**DEPA RTMENT OF THE A**  **I R FORCE**  HEADQUARTERS AIR FOR CE FLIGHT STANDARDS AGENCY

11 May 1 5 MEMORANDUM FOR HQ FAA/AGC - 10 FROM: HQ AFFSA/XOF 6500 South MacArthur Blvd, Bldg 4 Oklahoma City , OK 73169 SUBJECT: 14 CFR Ex emption 4371 Renewal (Regulatory Docket FAA - 2000 - 8093) 1. FAA Exemption 4371 was granted to the United States Air Force on 21 Jun 85; as amended to 4371 M on 19 April 20 1 3 , it exempts USAF aircraft from the provisions of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations § 91.177(a)(2) and 91.179(b)(1) . T he requirement for USAF a ircraft to conduct low - level operations without complying with en route minimum altitudes for flight under instrument flight rules (IFR) or direction of flight requirements for IFR en route segments in uncontrolled airspace has changed . 2. Due to technological advances in aircraft sy stems, as well as current and future operational requirements, the Air Force needs to train aircrew and employ aircraft at altitudes lower and distances longer than granted in the current exemption. Military Trai ning Route (MTR) operations are not governed by this exemption since their operations are covered in FAAO 7610.4. The Air Force requests the following amendments to 4371M: a. All aircraft operating within Special Use Airspace (SUA) : i. May fly as low as the bottom of the SUA floor when authorized by the appropriate military

authority . b. Fixed - Wing Aircraft operating IFR outside SUA or MTRs: i. Minimum altitude when employing Terrain Following/Terrain Avoidance (TF/TA) procedures will be no lower than 200 feet Set Clearance Plane (SCP). ii. Minimum altitude when employing visual low - level procedures will be no lower than 100 feet above obstacles. c. Rotary - Wing Aircraft operating IFR outside SUA or MTRs: i. Minimum altitude when employing TF/TA procedures will be no lower th an 100 feet SCP. ii. Minimum altitude when employing visual low - level procedures will be no lower than 50 feet above obstacles. d. Tilt - Rotor Aircraft operating IFR outside SUA or MTRs: i. Minimum altitude when employing TF/TA procedures will be no lower than 100 f eet SCP.**GLOBAL ACCESS FOR AMERICA** ii. Minimum altitude when employing visual low - level procedures in “Airplane” mode will be no lower than 100 feet above obstacles. iii. Minimum altitude when employing visual low - level procedures in “Conversion” mode will be no lower than 50 feet above obs tacles. e. All aircraft operating IF R outside SUA or MTRs under this exemption are limited to a maximum route length of 2 40NM. 3. Safety will be ensured during all of the above military operations through a combination of airframe technology

and mission p lanning. The proper military authority will limit operations by airframe based upon capabilities (i.e. TF/TA set performance, operating low - level airspeeds, etc.) and mission requirements. A large number of military airframes must train to low - level oper ations to accomplish their mission - set and it is therefore imperative for them to perform low level IFR operations below 1000 feet. 4. If this exemption is not granted, it will cause hardship for a large number of USAF aircraft across multiple MAJCOMs . All training for IFR low - level operations will be forced to occur in MTRs, increasing MTR workload as well as increas ing chance s of flight - path deconfliction challenges. Safet y could be negativel y impacted and critical training for contingency operations will be lost. 5 . Please contact me at ( 405 ) 582 - 6087 or hqaffsa.xof@us.af.mil if there are an y questions o r concerns . Thank you in advance for your assistance.

5/11/2015 

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REBS, Maj, U SA F Assistan t Chief, Flight D irect iv es D iv ision Si gned by: K

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