### January 26, 2012

Docket Management Facility US Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE West Building Ground Floor Room W12-140 Washington, DC 20590

Re: Request for Exemption

Petitioner: Seaborne Virgin Islands, Inc., d.b.a. Seaborne Airlines by its President/CEO, Mr. Omer ErSelcuk

Petitioner’s Contact Information: 1210 Watergut Christiansted, VI 00820 (340) 773-5991 extension 23 oerselcuk@seaborneairlines.com

Background: Seaborne Virgin Islands, Inc., doing business as Seaborne Airlines holds Air Carrier Certificate Number: S9BA675J and has operations specificati ons authorizing it to conduct domestic, flag and supplemental operations in the islands of the Caribbean. Seaborne Airlines primarily provides scheduled passenger service to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands using 19- passenger DeHavilland DHC-6-300 wheel planes. A portion of Seaborne Airlines’ route structure involves providing scheduled passenger operations using the FLOAT plane configuration of the DHC-6 between St. Thomas, VI (SPB) Charlotte Amalie Harbor and St Croix, VI (SBB) Christiansted Harbor.

After April 7,2012, 14 CFR Part 121359(i), Cockpit Voice Recorders , requires Seaborne Airlines to install upgraded Cockpit Voice Recorders in their aircraft that in part, meets the standards of TSO-C123a, or later revision. The most notable enhancement is the increase of recording retention time from 30 minutes to 2 hours.

Relief Sought from Regulatory Sections: Compliance Date: 14CFR Part 121359(i), Cockpit Voice Recorde, for selected airplanes.

Nature and Extent of the Requested Relief Seaborne Airline is requesting an extension to the compliance date for upgraded Cockpit Voice Recorder required by 14 CFR Part 121.359(i) for three specific aircraft and for a specified time as described in the Analysis section of this request.

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### Analysis Although Seaborne Airlines has equipped its aircraft with the upgraded CVR, the airline also operates three leased aircraft that do not have the upgraded CVR installed. The leases on the aircraft will expire as indicated below which presents a unique and potentially expensive issue for Seaborne Airlines. The DHC-6 Turbopropeller aircraft operated under Part 121 requires the upgraded Cockpit Voice Recorder, 1 

### however this same aircraft can be operated under Part 135 without the upgraded Cockpit Voice Recorder. 2 

### As a result the lessor (aircraft owner) has little interest in participating in the cost of installing the upgraded CVR.

In the absence of a temporary operating exemption for these three aircraft, Seaborne Airlines is faced with making a substantial financial investment with no assurance that the leases will be renewed. Seaborne Airlines has determined that the purchase cost for each CVR unit will be 20,000 dollars and the labor cost is estimated at 3200 dollars per installation. The aircraft will be out of service for 4 days and requires a permanent modification to the cockpit instrument panel.

It is important to understand that Seaborne Airlines is prepared to immediately comply with this required upgrade for its fleet but is concerned about making a 23,200 dollar capital improvement to these leased aircraft with no assurance that the aircraft will be available after the end of the lease period. Although the final rule (FR FAA-2005-20245) rejected commenter requests for extending the CVR compliance date, the FAA did recognize the possible need for a temporary operating exemption for an individual airplane.

Therefore, Seaborne Airlines is requesting a temporary operating exemption for the airplanes indicated: 1. DeHavilland DHC-6; N251SA; S/N 524; exemption relief until 12/15/2012 2. DeHavilland DHC-6; N288SA; S/N 389; exemption relief until 10/15/2012 3. DeHavilland DHC-6; N562CP; S/N 562; exemption relief until 10/05/2013

Equivalent Level of Safety The primary enhancement to the upgraded CVR is the increase of recording retention time from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Since Seaborne Airlines normally operates at or below 5000 feet and the longest flight is 47 minutes, the loss of critical cockpit voice data is very remote.

In addition, the use of the current CVR does not reduce the operational safety capabilities since its purpose of any CVR is post incident investigation. Therefore, safety of the flight is not affected.

If exemption relief is granted, Seaborne Airlines will restrict the flight time of any single scheduled leg to no more that one hour.

As a result, granting of a temporary operating exemption for these aircraft will not reduce the current level of safety.

1 § 121.359 Cockpit voice recorders. (i) By April 7, 2012, all turbine engine-powered airplanes subject to this section that are manufactured before April 7, 2010, must have a cockpit voice recorder installed that also-- (1) Meets the requirements of § 23.1457(d)(6) or § 25.1457(d)(6) of this chapter, as applicable; (2) Retains at least the last 2 hours of recorded inform ation using a recorder that meets the standards of TSO-C123a, or later revision; and (3) Is operated continuously from the use of the ch ecklist before the flight to completion of the final checklist at the end of the flight.
2 § 135.151 Cockpit voice recorders.

Page 2 of 3Benefit to the Public Interest If Seaborne Airlines is not able to control its cost while providing its services under Part 121 rules, the airline will be forced to conduct operations in accordance with regulatory requirements with lesser safety standards. If Seaborne Airlines was unable to properly manage the financial impact of this cost, many of our passengers would then be forced to fly on "9 or less" piston powered aircraft or worse, single pilot/single engine aircraft over open water to the ports we currently serve.

Therefore, we believe that granting of this exemption which provides passengers with continued

access to turbopropeller powered twin engine aircraft is in the public interest.

Summary for Publication in the Federal Register Seaborne Virgin Islands, Inc., doing business as Seaborne Airlines holds Air Carrier Certificate Number: S9BA675J and has operations specifications authorizing it to conduct domestic, flag and supplemental operations in the islands of the Caribbean. Seaborne Airlines primarily provides scheduled passenger service to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands using DeHavilland DHC-6-300 wheel planes. A portion of Seaborne Airlines' route structure involves providing scheduled passenger operations using the FLOAT plane configuration of the DHC-6 between St. Thomas, VI (SPB) Charlotte Amalie Harbor and St Croix, VI (SBB)**C~lristiansted** Harbor.

After April 7,2012, 14 CFR Part 121359(i), Cockpit Voice Recorders, requires Seaborne Airlines to install upgraded Cockpit Voice Recorders in their aircraft that in part, meets the standards of TSO-C123a, or later revision.

Seaborne Airlines seeks exemption relief to postpone installation of the upgraded Cockpit Voice Recorder in certain leased aircraft until it can be determined that the airline is able to lease these aircraft on a more permanent basis.

In order to maintain an equivalent level of safety, Seaborne Airlines will accept a limitation of a maximum flight time for any single leg to one hour.

Technical Support

- Contact Information Seaborne Airlines

- Director of Quality Control Mr. John Harrison (340) 514-6208 jharrison@seaborneairlines.com

Seaborne Airlines

- Chief Operating Officer Mr. David Ziemer (340) 773-5991 extension 23 dziemer@ seaborneai rlines .com

Sincerely,

# tlc~ ,A-.-

- Omer

### ErSelcu~**President/Chie~cutive** Officer Seaborne Airlines

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