AFS

- 12

- 454

- E Exemption No. 10523A

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON, DC 20591

In the matter of the petition of

ERA HELICOPTERS, LLC Regulatory Docket No. FAA

- 201 1

- 1084

for an exemption from § 91.1605 of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, SFAR No. 77

D ENIAL OF PETITION FOR RECONSIDERATION

By letter dated May 31 , 2011, submitted to Docket No. FAA

- 2011

- 0583 by Ms

. Dana Raaz,

P.O. Box 6550 , Lake Charles, LA , Era Helicopters LLC (Era) petition ed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for an exemption from Special Federal Aviation Regulation ( SFAR ) No.

77

, § 91.1605

, of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). By letter dated Septe mber 2 2

, 2011 , Mr. Robert D. Van de Vuurst , President, Era, 600 Airport Service Road, Lake Charles, LA

70605 responded to the FAA ’s request for additional information that would allow it to process

Era’s original petition

. This additional information was posted in Docket No. FAA

- 2011

- 1084. The proposed exemption, if granted, would permit Era to conduct on

- demand rotorcraft operations in s outhern Iraq

. Specifically, i t would allow Era to conduct passenger transport and medevac operations in th at region of Iraq on an as

- needed basis for oil industry participants and, potentially, other clients

.

The FAA denied Era’s initial petition in April 30, 2012

, for failure to respond to an FAA request for more information , and Era petitioned for reconsideration by l etter dated June 8, 2012. Era provided further supplemental information on June 8, 2012

, from Mr. Van de Vuurst and on February 8, 2013

, from Mr. Sten L. Gustafson, Chief Executive Officer, Era Group Inc. On January 15, 2014, Era clarified via email that it was not seeking any area restrictions for its proposed operations in Iraq.

The petitioner requires relief from the following regulation:

Section 91.1605, SFAR No. 77

— Prohibition Against Certain Flights Within the Territory and Airspace of Iraq. Paragraph (b), Flight prohibition, prescribes that no person may conduct flight operations over or within the territory of Iraq

, except as provided in paragraphs (c) and (d) or (b)(1)

- (b)(5) of t hat section. Paragraph (c), P ermitted O perations , prescribe s that SFAR

No

. 77 does not prohibit persons described in paragraph (a) of that section from conducting flight2 operations within the territory and airspace of Iraq whe n such operations are authorized either by another agency of the United States Government (USG) with the approval of the FAA or by an exemption granted by the Administrator.

Paragraph (a) of §91.1605, SFAR No. 77, provides in pertinent part that the rule applies to:

(1) All U.S. air carriers or commercial operators;

(2) All persons exercis ing the privileges of an airman certificate issued by the FAA except such persons operating U.S.

- registered aircraft for a foreign air carrier; or

(3) All operators of aircraft registered in the United States except where the operator of such

aircraft is a foreign air carrier.

The petitioner supports its request with the following information:

Era states that the Iraqi government has made repeated request s that U.S. civil a ir carrier s be allowed to operate in Iraq. It state s Iraq is in need of helicop ter capabilities and that, at the

time of Era’s September 21, 2011

, letter , Iraq had only one available commercial helicopter operated by a small non

- American company. Era also state s that i nternatio nal oil companies operating in Iraq are interested in ut ilizing helicopters for personnel transport and medevac and

would like to use a company that they recognize and that meets their efficiency and safety

standards. At the time of the September 21, 2011

, letter

, according to the petitioner, U.S.

citizens and others working in the oil industry in southern Iraq had to travel either by road, placing them in danger of improvised explosive device (IED) attack

, or utilize a foreign company for air transport that m ight not meet the same safety standards that would b e required of a U.S. operator . Era believe s lives will be saved by its introduction of m edevac operations in

southern Iraq , which will speed the delivery of patients to medical faciliti es where they can

obtain appropriate care

.

Era submitted detailed in formation, a great deal of which it requested be treated as proprietary information

, to the FAA concerning its proposed operations in Iraq, including:

1. T he locations of primary and alternate landing sites at which Era plans to operate;

2. I ts plans for m itigating risks to the aircraft while airborne;

3. S urvival training for crewmembers specific to the area ;

4. A description of any special emergency equipment or aircraft modifications;

5. I nformation on specialized training for flight crew members ;

6. D e tailed information about Era’s process for obtaining comprehensive threat in formation,

its dissemination of such information to flight crew members, and how such information

will be used throughout all phases of the operation ; and3
7. A copy of Era’s Gener al Operations Manual (GOM) Supplement for Iraq, as well as other materials comprehensively describing Era’s processes and procedures for managing

risks to its proposed operations in Iraq

.

Era proposes several steps to mitigate risks associated with its re quested flight operation s

. Era proposes to use special risk management processes and procedures

, includ ing enhanced operational control measures to ensure tha t company management has heighten ed awareness of and oversight over the proposed operations

. E ra also proposes to utilize flight planning

software and explains how this software will contribute to giv ing all parties involved in the

decision of whether to conduct a particular flight a comprehensive understanding of the risks

involved with that fligh t. Era ’s submissions to the FAA describe in detail how the risks

associated with a proposed flight will be evaluated, the safety and security conditions that must be met for a proposed flight to take place, the circumstances under which flights will be

ca ncel l ed or diverted, and who may cancel a flight

. Era further describes the measures that it

would take to ensure comprehensive security coverage for all aspects of its proposed operation s while avoiding the introduction of potential safety hazards

.

Era ’ s submissions also describe in detail speci al processes and procedures to manage risks to

its proposed medical evacuation flights

. Key measures include: processes for assessing risks to proposed medevac operations that include consideratio n of current th reat information and strict limits on the safety and security conditions under which a medevac flight may be initiate d or continue d

.

. A summary of Era’s petition was published in the Federal Register on Oct ober 26, 2011 ( 76 FR 66351 ). No comments were received. However, t he FAA received supporting letters

from Congressman Allen West on Oct ober 11, 2011

, and Ambassador James Jeffrey on Oct ober
18, 2011.

The FAA’s a nalysis is as follows:

Upon receiving a denial of exemption, § 11.101 states t hat a petitioner may ask the FAA to reconsider its petition for exemption. The petition for reconsideration must show a significant

additional fact that was not presented in the original petition , that the FAA made an important factual error in the denial, or that the FAA did not correctly interpret a law, regulation, or preceden t.

The FAA has fully considered the petitioner’s request and supporting information and finds

that

, although the petitioner’ s new submission s to the FAA , taken as a whole, w ere v ery comprehensive and presented additional facts beyond those presented in its original petition

, circumstances in Iraq have changed to such a degree since the petitioner made its submissions

that granting the requested exemption would not be in the public interest and would not provide an equivalent level of safety to that provided by the regulation

.

On July 31, 2014, the FAA issued a Notice To Airmen ( NOTAM ) prohibiting flight operations in the territory and airspace of Iraq at or below flight level ( FL ) 300 because of significant changes in the operational environment for U.S. civil aviation. The resurgence of radical Islamic groups

, such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as the4 Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), an d their ongoing combat operations against the Iraqi government and its allies had led to an increased threat to U.S. civil aviation in Iraq. Th is NOTAM increased restrictions on operations in the territory and airspace of Iraq beyond the

restrictions cont ained in SFAR No. 77, § 91.1605, which remained in effect. The following operations that had been permitted under SFAR No. 77, § 91.1605

, were prohibited by the July
31, 2014, NOTAM:

(1) O verflights of Iraq above FL 200 but at or below FL 300;

(2) O perations a t or below FL 300 by flights departing from countries adjacent to Iraq whose climb performance would not permit operations above FL 300 prior to entering Iraqi airspace; and

(3) F lights within the territory of Iraq north of 34°30' North latitude originating f rom or destined to areas outside of Iraq to or from Erbil International Airport and Sulaymaniyah International Airport

.

On August 7, 2014, President Obama announced that he had authorized air drops of humanitarian aid to trapped Iraqi civilians and targe ted airstrikes against militants associated

with ISIL that ha ve since resulted in numerous airstrikes. U.S. forces began conducting airstrikes on August 8, 2014, and, on the same day, t he FAA is s ued a NOTAM prohibiting flight operations in the Baghdad (OR BB) F light I nformation R egion (FIR) at all altitudes by all : U.S. air carriers; U.S. commercial operators; persons exercising the privileges of a n airman certificate issued by the FAA , except when such persons are operating a U.S.

- registered aircraft for a foreign air carrier; and operators of U.S.

- registered civil aircraft, except when such operators are foreign air carriers , subject to certain limited exceptions not relevant here

. On August 10, 2014, the Department of State issued a Travel Warning for Ir aq that advises U.S. citizens against all but essential travel to Iraq. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has relocated personnel due to the threat

, and its ability t o provide consular services to U.S. citizens throughout Iraq, including Baghdad, is limited give n the security environment. Americ ans in country are under restricted movement

conditions

, and often are accompanied by security advisors and protective security teams. On December 24, 2014, the FAA issued a NOTAM extending its prohibition on U.S. civil flight operations in the Baghdad (ORBB) FIR at all altitudes due to the continuing arme d conflict between militants associated with ISIL and Iraqi security forces and their allies.

T he potential spread of militant forces associated with ISIL and airst rikes targeting those

hostile forces may not be limited to just the northern regions of Iraq. For th e reasons described

above , the FAA has determined it would not be in the public interest to grant Era Helicopters the proposed exemption at this time

, beca use it would not provide an equivalent level of safety to that provided by SFAR No. 77

, § 91.1605

.5
The FAA’s Decision

In consideration of the foregoing, I find that a grant of exemption would not be in the public interest. Therefore, pursuant to the a uthority contained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 106(f), 40113 and 44701, delegated to me by the Administrator, Era Helicopters

, LLC ’s petition for exemption from

14 CFR § 91.1605 , SFAR No. 77, is hereby denied.

Issued in Washington, DC, on March 27, 2015.

.

Michael P. Huerta

Administrator