AFS

- 16

- 10001

- E Exemption No. 17159

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON, DC 20591

In the matter of the petition of

ROTORCRAFT LEASING COMPANY , LLC Regulatory Docket No. FAA

- 201 6

- 5003

for an exemption from § 135

. 160 ( a ) of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations

CORRECTED COPY

In our letter dated Novembe r 23
, 2018 the FAA provided the incorrect termination date to exemption 17159. This document corrects the termination date of this exemption from November 30, 2018 to January 30 , 2018

.

GRANT OF EXEMPTION

By letter dated July 26, 2016, Mr. Dru Milke

, C hief Executive Officer

, Rotorcraft Leasing Company , LLC ( RLC )
, 430 N. Eola Rd, Broussard, LA 70518

, petitioned the Federa l Aviation Administration (FAA) on behalf of RLC for an exemption from § 1 35

. 160 ( a ) of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). This exemption, if granted, would allow RLC t o continue to operate its fleet of 39 B ell 206B, 206L1, 206L3, 206L4, and 407 rotorcraft for two years without the installation of operable FAA

- approved radio altimeter s

. The petitioner requests relief from th e following regulation:

Section 135. 160 ( a ) prescribes that a fter April 24, 2017, no person may operate a rotorcraft unless that rotorcraft is equipped with an operable FAA

- approved radio altimeter, or an FAA

approved device that incorporates a radio altime ter, unless otherwise authorized in the certificate holder's approved minimum equipment list

.2

The petitioner supports its request with the following information:

RLC stated it operates exclusively in the offshore environment supporting exploration and
pr oduction activities in the oil and gas industry. RLC stated that it transports on an average 20,000 to 25,000 personnel for its customers each month. The petitioner added that the burden of complying with 14 CFR 135.160 (a) will force them to suspend oper ations, thus impacting its 300 employees and its customers. If RLC suspends operations or goes out of business, the petitioner stated that the impact on its customers could be “catastrophic” because most all part 135 operators supporting the oil and gas i ndustry have drastically reduced workforce and aircraft. Because of these unique operations being directly tied to the oil and gas industry, RLC stated that its customers may not find replacement service providers which would interrupt oil and gas product ion by limiting production oversight and repairs. Additionally, t he petitioner cited Moody’s Analytics data that states for every job lost in the oil and gas industry equates to 3.43 jobs lost in other sectors of the economy. Based on Moody’s data, RLC e stimated that nearly 1,000 jobs could be lost due to RLC suspending operations or going out of business due to compliance costs associated with the radio altimeter equipage requirement by April 24, 2017

.

RLC requested an exemption from 14 CFR 135.160 (a) t o give RLC time to acquire and install radio altimeters on its 38 rotorcraft by no later than April 24, 2019. RLC stated that an equivalent level of safety can be maintained during the two year period because of its use of a satellite tracking system for flight following and its enhanced operational control abilities to avoid inadvertent instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) or controlled flight into terrain
or water

. RLC explained that its satellite tracking system supplements voice radio calls by
p roviding aircraft position updates every 3 minutes. RLC added that the tracking system allows for alerting to flight control personnel if aircraft fall below a certain altitude or airspeed. RLC explained that its flight control department continuously mo nitors weather conditions to provide a range of controls from simple flight crew notifications to approving an individual flight.

The FAA’ s analysis is as follows:

In October 2010 (75 FR 62639) the FAA published notice of proposed rulemaking which would r equire all commercial helicopter operators to equip with an operable FAA

- approved radio altimeter. In February 2014 ( 79 FR 9931), the FAA adopted the final rule as proposed with compliance due on April 24, 2017, three years from the rule’s effective date

. In the preamble to the final rule, t he FAA determined that radio altimeters are an important safety device designed to inform the pilot of the aircraft's actual height above the Earth’s surface. FAA agreed with the NPRM commenters and also agree s with t he one commenter to this petition that a radio altimeter may have minimal impact on daytime visual reference flight

. H owever , this device gives pilots an additional tool to maintain situational awareness in an inadvertent encounter with IMC where vision i s suddenly limited due to brownout or whiteout, or other situations where pilots lose their reference to the horizon and the surface

. Additionally, as stated in the NPRM, a radio altimeter can aid a pilot's awareness of height3

above the ground during hover , when landing in unimproved landing zones, or where a more vertical approach is required. All of these scenarios can occur during the day.

Also in the final rule, the FAA agreed with NTSB safety recommendation A

- 02

- 35 which noted that radio altimeters wo uld likely aid pilots in recognizing proximity to the ground in flat

- light and whiteout conditions such as may be experienced in hazy conditions over glassy open water . Additionally, the FAA cite d 29 accidents in the final regulatory evaluation that may ha ve been prevented by a radio altimeter. Of the 29 accidents, 19 were classified as controlled flight into terrain by the NTSB. A radio altimeter could have provided the pilot with a low altitude warning, enabling the pilot to take corrective action. Whe n considering these accidents and in view of the public comments the FAA received on RLC’s petition, the FAA strongly urges RLC to promote awareness and understanding of the important safety benefits provided by using radio altimeters in its operations.

T he FAA finds RLC’s equivalent level of safety proposal is insufficient as proposed as a temporary, acceptable level of safety until radio altimeters are installed in its fleet of helicopters. However, due to the potential effect of this mandate upon the f inancial well

being of the petitioner t he FAA finds that RLC’s proposed mitigations intended to achieve an equivalent level of safety may be adjusted to include operating limitations to avoid entering inadvertent IMC or other situations in VFR flight where a pilot could lose reference to the horizon

, and the petitioner must require specific operating procedures be implemented to avoid unknowingly descending into the ocean surface

. Th ere fore, t he FAA determines that RLC proposed a temporary, acceptable leve l of safety when combin ing its flight following capabilities with altitude and airspeed alerts to flight control personnel with its enhanced operational controls to avoid instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) controlled flight into terrain or water

, and requiring pilots to pre

- select their cruising altitude on the helicopter GPS or equivalent satellite navigation system, and set an audible altitude deviation warning at +/

- 200 feet above or below that cruising altitude

.

The FAA reviewed all of the p etitioner’s information and public comments and finds this is a unique operation because all of RLC’s business is directly tied to one sector of the U.S. economy. The FAA is aware of the business decisions RLC made in response to the economic downturn ass ociated with the oil and gas industry by recently reducing its workforce in March, 2016, along with giving customers concessions in service charges and reducing capital expenditures to remain in business. The FAA determines that the public interest is bes t served by delaying RLC’s compliance date by no more than 9 months to January 24, 201 8
to allow continued operations supporting the oil and gas industry

. This extra time will allow for RLC to acquire the equipment needed, get any required FAA data approv al

, and perform the equipment installation s

. As a condition to this exemption, w ithin 3 0 days of receipt of this letter, RLC must provide to its Principal Avionics Inspector (PAI) a schedule for the completion of the installations for each affected helico pter . RLC must meet this equipment installation schedule by completing radio altimeter installations on at least 3 helicopters for each month beginning upon re c eipt of this letter and continuing at the rate of 3 installations per month until all helicopte rs are equipped with an operable radio altimeter

.4

The FAA’s Decision:
In consideration of the foregoing, I find that a grant of exemption would be in the public interest. Therefore, pursuant to the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 40113
, and 44701, delegated to me by the Administrator, Rotorcraft Leasing Company, LLC is granted an exemption from 14 CFR § 1 35

. 160(a ) to the extent necessary to allow its 3 7 Bell 206L1, 206L3, 206L4, and 407 rotorcraft to operate subject to the conditions and limitation s listed below. The FAA notes that RLC requested an exemption for 39 aircraft. However upon further investigation, RLC has 3 7 Bell 206L1, 206L3, 206L4, and 407 aircraft listed on its OpSpec D085

– Aircraft Listing . Therefore, this exemption is applicabl e only to those 3 7 aircraft listed on RLC’s OpSpec D 0 85

.

Conditions and Limitations 1. This exemption only applies to the following Bell 206L1, 206L3, 206L4, and 407 rotorcraft while registered to and operated by RLC:

Registratio n No

. Seria l No

. Aircraf t M/M/S N2611 45417 BHT

- 206

- L1 N570RL 45517 BHT

- 206

- L1 N351RL 51431 BHT

- 206

- L3 N510RT 51078 BHT

- 206

- L3 N157RL 52320 BHT

- 206

- L4 N169RL 52063 BHT

- 206

- L4 N171RL 52064 BHT

- 206

- L4 N173RL 52066 BHT

- 206

- L4 N174AL 52067 BHT

- 206

- L4 N178RL 52117 B HT

- 206

- L4 N179RL 52102 BHT

- 206

- L4 N192RL 52192 BHT

- 206

- L4 N207RL 52207 BHT

- 206

- L4 N318RL 52318 BHT

- 206

- L4 N322RL 52322 BHT

- 206

- L4 N354RL 52354 BHT

- 206

- L4 N389RL 52398 BHT

- 206

- L4 N410RL 52310 BHT

- 206

- L4 N414RL 52006 BHT

- 206

- L4 N520RL 52052 BHT

- 206

- L4 N523RL 52321 BHT

- 206

- L4 N852RL 52081 BHT

- 206

- L4 N1612 53044 BHT

- 407

- 407 N163RL 53163 BHT

- 407

- 4075
Registratio n N o. Seria l No

. Ai rcraf t M/M/S N164RL 53140 BHT

- 407

- 407 N167RL 53167 BHT

- 407

- 407 N309RL 53092 BHT

- 407

- 407 N373RL 53373 BHT

- 407

- 407 N3914R 53914 BHT

- 407

- 407 N4916R 53916 BHT

- 407

- 407 N522RL 53231 BHT

- 407

- 407 N594RL 53594 BHT

- 407

- 407 N595RL 53595 BHT

- 407

- 407 N660RL 53248 BHT

- 407

- 407 N661RL 53284 BHT

- 407

- 407 N662RL 532 03 BHT

- 407

- 407 N663RL 53479 BHT

- 407

- 407

2. A copy of this exemption must be retained in each non

- compliant helicopter’s rotorcraft flight manual until all helicopters identified in this exemption have an operable FAA

- approved radio altimeter.

3. Within 3 0 da ys of receipt of this letter , RLC must provide to its PAI a copy of this exemption and a schedule for the completion of the installations at the rate of at least three helicopters per month beginning immediately and continuing at this rate during this 9

- mo nth exemption period.

4. RLC must conduct only VFR operations with visibility of at least three miles , and may not initiate any overwater flight to begin before sunrise, nor to end after sunset with helicopters subject to this exemption

.

5. RLC must provide it s PAI a monthly status of the modification schedule provided in 3) above.

6. RLC must implement cockpit procedures and pilot training to pre

- select a cruise altitude on the GPS or equivalent navigation system prior to liftoff , and set an audible altitude dev iation warning of not more than +/

- 200 feet above and below the selected cruise altitude.

7. RLC must provide a trained individual on duty at all times an RLC flight is airborne to continuously monitor the RLC satellite tracking system for all RLC flights, to immediately advise any flight of an altitude deviation exceeding 200 feet below the planned cruise altitude, and to confirm the pilot is taking immediate positive corrective action to return to the planned cruising altitude.

This exemption terminates o n January 30 , 2018, unless sooner superseded or rescinded.6

Issued in Washington, DC, on November 23, 2016

.

/s/ John Barbagallo Deputy, Director Flight Standards Service