Exemption No. 10370 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION 

WASHINGTON, DC 20591 

 

In the matter of the petition of 

 

INTERNATIONAL AIR 

RESPONSE, INC. Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2011-0505

 

for an exemption from § 91.313(a)(1), 

(c), and (d) of Title 14, Code of 

Federal Regulations 

 

DENIAL OF EXEMPTION 

 By letters dated May 9, 2011, and May 12, 2011, Mr. William N. Grantham, Director of 

Business Development, International Air Response, Inc. (IAR), 3644 South Hangar Drive, 

P.O. Box 67, Coolidge, Arizona 85128-0067, petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration 

(FAA) on behalf of IAR for an exemption from § 91.313(a)(1), (c), and (d) of Title 14, Code 

of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). The proposed exemption, if granted, would allow IAR to 

conduct parachute operations from a restricted category aircraft for compensation or hire 

while carrying personnel who are not essential for the conduct of the special purpose 

operation for which the aircraft is certificated. 

The petitioner requests relief from the following regulations:

Section 91.313(a)(1) prescribes, in pertinent part, that no person may operate a 

restricted category civil aircraft for other than the special purpose for which it is 

certificated. 

Section 91.313(c) states: No person may operate a restricted category civil aircraft 

carrying persons or property for compensation or hire. For the purposes of this 

paragraph, a special purpose operation involving the carriage of persons or material 

necessary to accomplish that operation, such as crop dusting, seeding, spraying, and 

banner towing (including the carrying of required persons or material to the location of 

that operation), and operation for the purpose of providing flight crewmember training 

AFS-11-305-E 
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in a special purpose operation, are not considered to be the carriage of persons or 

property for compensation or hire. 

Section 91.313(d) states: No person may be carried on a restricted category civil 

aircraft unless that person— 

(1) Is a flight crewmember; 

(2) Is a flight crewmember trainee; 

(3) Performs an essential function in connection with a special purpose 

operation for which the aircraft is certificated; or 

(4) Is necessary to accomplish the work activity directly associated with that 

special purpose. 

The petitioner supports its request with the following information:

The petitioner requests to operate its Lockheed C-130A aircraft (Registration Nos. 

N121TG, N118TG, and N117TG) for the purpose of conducting parachuting operations 

on behalf of Warner Brothers Entertainment. The petitioner states that parachuting is 

not one of the special purposes for which the C-130A aircraft operated by the petitioner 

are currently certificated. Additionally, the petitioner notes that the parachute 

operations will be for compensation or hire. 

The petitioner states that proposed aerial work will be conducted from altitudes below 

10,000 feet mean sea level (MSL) in visual flight rules (VFR) conditions. Four 

parachutists would make freefall descents supervised by an additional four parachutequalified personnel acting in a “jumpmaster” capacity onboard the aircraft. 

The petitioner contends that granting its request would be in the public interest because 

it will allow Warner Brothers Entertainment to continue production of an upcoming 

motion picture while maintaining current levels of employment and generating 

commensurate taxable revenue. Additionally, the petitioner contends that the proposed 

operations will result in significant domestic job creation, as both companies intend to 

employ a substantial number of U.S. citizens for this purpose. 

The petitioner states that granting this exemption would not adversely affect safety, as 

the C-130A airplane is specifically designed and purpose-built for parachute 

operations. Additionally, the petitioner notes that it currently conducts parachute 

operations using these aircraft under “public use” on behalf of the U.S. Department of 

Defense. The petitioner states that its C-130 aircraft are subject to FAA surveillance 

under a part 137 operating certificate and that its flightcrews and parachute operations 

are subject to regular Department of Defense inspections. The petitioner states that 
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parachute operations would be confined to uncongested airspace and that aircraft 

would be operated from airfields with little to no public transport operations. 

The petitioner also notes that if its request is not granted, it will have to use an Antonov 

aircraft, operated by a Moldovan company, to conduct the proposed operations. The 

petitioner asserts that such action would expose the participants to a greater level of 

risk than if its C-130s were used to conduct the proposed operations. 

The petitioner requested to exercise the privileges of the exemption outside the 

United States, specifically within the United Kingdom. 

 A summary of the petition was published in the Federal Register on May 20, 2011 

(76 FR 29289). No comments were received. 

The FAA’s analysis is as follows: 

The FAA finds that the petitioner has not provided sufficient reasons to make a 

determination that the proposed activity would be in the public interest. The petitioner 

indicates that a grant of exemption would benefit Warner Brothers Entertainment, 

create jobs, and provide the public with entertainment. Although granting the petition 

would provide ancillary U.S. employment and taxable revenue, the FAA does not 

consider such activity to be sufficiently beneficial to the public as a whole to warrant a 

grant of exemption. 

The petitioner states that safety will not be compromised since the Department of 

Defense has used these C-130 aircraft for parachute operations, and the C-130 was 

designed for parachute operations. These Department of Defense public aircraft 

operations are not subject to FAA regulatory oversight. The FAA, therefore, has not 

been able to evaluate these operations to determine if any safety issues might be 

present that would affect the use of these aircraft in a civil aircraft parachute 

operation. Additionally, while the C-130 may have been designed for Department of 

Defense military parachute operations, the aircraft was not certificated for civil 

parachute operations. The FAA also notes that there are numerous standard category 

aircraft that are available for parachute operations that can be used for parachute 

operations without an exemption, including later models of the C-130 and other 

similar aircraft. 

The FAA finds that IAR’s proposed operation of these restricted category aircraft for 

the purpose of conducting parachute operations does not meet the necessary level of 

public interest and that IAR has not provided evidence that the operation can be 

conducted with a level of safety equivalent to the regulations from which it seeks 

relief. 
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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 authority contained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 40113 

and 44701, delegated to me by the Administrator, the petition of International Air Response, 

Inc., for an exemption from 14 CFR § 91.313(a)(1), (c), and (d) is hereby denied. 

Issued in Washington, D.C., on September 28, 2011. 

/s/ 

John W. McGraw 

Acting Director, Flight Standards 

 Service .