AFS

- 15

- 410

- E Exemption No. 11719

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON, DC 20591

In the matter of the petition of

AERO AIR, LLC Regulatory Docket No. FAA

- 2015

- 00 98

for an exemption from § 91.529 (a)(1 ) of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations

GRANT OF EXEMPTION

By letter dated December 15, 2014 , Mr. Steve Boyce, Director of Maintenance, Aero Air, LLC, (Aero Air), Portland

– Hillsboro Airport, 2050 NE 25 th Avenue, Hillsboro, OR 97124, petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on behalf of Aero Air for an

amendment and extension to Exemption No. 10043 B , originally issued to Butler Aircraft (Butler). Also b y letter dated November 5 , 2012

, and posted to the docket (FAA

- 200 1

- 10283 ) on December18, 2012, Mr. Steve Boyce petitioned the FAA on behalf of Aero Air for an

amendment to Exemption No. 1 0043

, issued to Bu tler. In the November 5, 2012, petition, you indicate d that Aero Air acquired the operating assets of Butler, which include d three DC

7 series aircraft for use in firefighting activities. The amendment you request ed would change the exemption holder from Butler to Aero Air

. You stated that an exemption from § 91. 529(a)(1) of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations would allow Aero Air to operate its Boeing Douglas DC

- 7 and DC

- 7B aircraft (registration No s. N401US, N6353C, and N838D) without a flight engineer during flightcrew training, ferry operations, and test flights that are conducted to prepare for firefighting operations carried out under 14 CFR part 137. Since

Butler ’s assets were acquired by Aero Air, the FAA will treat this as a new petition for exemption by Aero Air rather than an extension or transfer of the exemption previously granted to Butler.2

In your December 15, 2014

, petition

, you indicate that there has been no change in the

conditio ns and reasons relative to public interest and safety that were the basis for granting the original exemption.

The petitioner requests relief from the following regulations:

Section 91.529 prescribes, in pertinent part, that

(a) No person may opera te the following airplanes without a flight crewmember holding a current flight engineer certificate:

(1) An airplane for which a type certificate was issued before January 2, 1964, having a maximum certificated takeoff weight of more than 80,000 pound s.

(2) An airplane type certificated after January 1, 1964, for which a flight engineer is required by the type certification requirements.

(b) No person may serve as a required flight engineer on an airplane unless, within the preceding 6 calendar months, that person has had at least 50 hours of flight time as a flight engineer on that type airplane or has been checked by the Administrator on that type airplane and is found to be familiar and competent with all essential current information and ope rating procedures.

The petitioner supports its request with the following information:

Aero Air is requesting an extension to E xemption N o. 10043B

, which expires on May 31,

2015.

Not having this exemption in place by May 1, 2015 could place undue time constraints on relocating an aircraft for repair during the middle of the 2015 fire season

. If a flight engineer were to be mandated

, his services would be needed for only two or three weeks each year and there is no way he could maintain currency requir ements; so an annual flight check would be required. This would create an economic burden that would be detrimental to the costs passed on to the customer/taxpayer.

The FAA's analysis is as follows:

The FAA has determined that good cause exists for not publishing a summary of the petition in the Federal Register because the requested extension of the exemption would not set a precedent, and any delay in acting on this petition would be detrimental to Aero Air.

The FAA has issued a grant of exemptio n in circumstance similar in all material respects to those presented in your petition for extension. In Grant of Exemption No. 10043, as amended, the FAA found that the petition er was in a unique situation

, in that most aircraft used in this type of oper ation are certificated for agricultural operations in the restricted category while Aero Air’s aircraft are certificated in the transport category.3

Section 91.313 allows operation of restricted category aircraft in operations necessary for the accomplishm ent of the work activity directly associated with that special purpose. In addition, this section specifically states that operation of a restricted category civil aircraft to provide flight crewmember training in a special purpose operation for which the aircraft is certificated is considered to be an operation for that special purpose. Thus, if the petitioner’s aircraft were certificated in the restricted category, an exemption would not be necessary.

Having reviewed your reasons for requesting an exte nsion to E xemption No. 10043B, as amended (but being treated as a request for a grant of exemption for the reasons previously

stated )

, I find that:

 They are similar in all material respect to relief previously requested in Grant of Exemption No. 10043 B , a s amended (co py enclosed)

.

 The reasons stated by the FAA for granting previous Grant of Exemption No. 10043 B

, as amended also apply to Aero Air, LLC’s present situation.

 A grant of exemption to the existin g petition is in the public interest.

Our Decisi on

In consideration of the foregoing, I find that a grant of would be in the public interest

. Therefore, pursuant to the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 106(f), 40113, and 44701 delegated to me by the Administrator, Aero Air, LLC is granted an exempt ion from

14 CFR § 91.529 to the extent necessary to allow Aero Air to operate its Boeing Douglas DC

7 and DC

- 7B aircraft (registration Nos. N401US, N6353C, and N838D) without a flight engineer during flightcrew training, ferry operations, and test flights that are conducted to prepare for firefighting operations ca rried out under 14 CFR part 137, subject to the condition

and limitation listed below.

Conditions and Limitations

1. This exemption applies to the following DC

- 7 series aircraft operated by Aero Ai r, LLC: Registration Numbers N401US, N6353C, and N838D. A copy of this exemption must be carried on board these aircraft at all times

.

2. This exemption is not valid for operations outside of the United States.

This exemption terminates on May 31 , 201 7 , un less sooner superseded or rescinded.

Issued in Washington, DC, on May 29, 2015

.

/s/

John B a rbagallo Deputy Director , Flight Standards Service