AFS-15-1828-E August 25, 2015

Exemption No. 12627 Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2015-1709

Mr. Jesus Pereira Vet Air, Inc.

82 Nonotuck Street Holyoke, MA 01040

Dear Mr. Pereira:

This letter is to inform you that we have gran ted your request for exemption. It transmits our decision, explains its basis, and gives you th e conditions and limitations of the exemption, including the date it ends.

The Basis for Our Decision

By petition posted to the Federal docket on May 19, 2015, you petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on behalf of Vet Air, Inc. (Vet Air) for an exemption from § 61.113(c) of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) to the extent necessary to allow Vet Air to reimburse its volunteer pilots for fuel costs incurred while conducting charitable flights.

The FAA has determined that good cause exists for not publishing a summary of the petition in the Federal Register because the requested exemption would not set a precedent, and any delay in acting on this petition w ould be detrimental to Vet Air.

The FAA has issued a grant of exemption in circ umstances similar in all material respects to those presented in your petition. In Gran t of Exemption No. 10009, as amended, and 10019, as amended, (copies enclosed), the FAA found th at the humanitarian efforts of these pilots who volunteer their time and piloting services are commendable, a nd the FAA wants to encourage this kind of volunteerism and public service for the common good of our citizens. The FAA has also found that when money is ex changed for transportati on, the public expects, and the FAA has a duty to demand, a higher level of safety for the flying public. The FAA believes that by requiring the petitioner to comp ly with the conditions and limitations of this2

exemption, the FAA can ensure a higher level of safety for the individuals participating in these charitable flights.

Having reviewed your reasons for re questing an exemption, I find that:

 They are similar in all material respects to relief previously request ed in the enclosed Grants of Exemption No. 10009, as amended, and 10019, as amended;

 The reasons stated by the FAA for granting the enclosed Grants of Exemption No. 10009, as amended, and 10019, as amended, also apply to the situation you present; and

 For the reasons stated in Grants of Exemption No. 10009, as amended, and 10019, as amended, a grant of exemption to Ve t Air is in the public interest.

Our Decision

Therefore, pursuant to the authority c ontained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 106(f), 40113 and 44701 delegated to me by the Administrator, I grant Vet Air, Inc. (Vet Air) an exemption from 14 CFR § 61.113(c) to the extent necessary to allow Vet Air to reimburse its volunteer pilots for fuel costs incurred while conducting char itable flights, subject to the conditions and

limitations described below.

Conditions and Limitations

1. The following definitions apply for the purposes of this exemption:

a. Charitable Medical Flight (CMF): A fli ght operation to provide transportation for an individual or organ for medical purposes (and for other associated individuals), if the aircraft owner or operator has volunteered to provide such transportation.

b. Volunteer Pilot Organization (V PO): An organization that:

i. is described in section 501(c)(3) of th e Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of such Code; and

ii. is organized for the primary pur pose of providing, arranging, or otherwise fostering charitab le medical transportation.

2. Before exercising the privileges of this exemption, Vet Air must ensure it meets the definition of a VPO and that the flight meet s the definition of a CMF, as specified in

Condition/Limitation No. 1. Vet Air must receive a determination by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that the organizati on meets the requirements for 501(c)(3) taxexempt status before exercising the privileges of this exemption.

3. This exemption may be exercised only for CMFs conducted by Vet Air. A CMF includes flights that are inte nded to reposition the aircra ft to the client pick-up location, as well as reposition the aircraft following the client drop-off. Repositioning flights must be from the aircraft home base to and from the point of client pickup/drop-off location by the mo st practical route.3

4. Vet Air must ensure the following items are available to any repr esentative of the FAA Administrator, upon request:

a. A detailed description of Vet Air’s process for verification of pilot qualification and training. This process mu st include a means to verify pilots’ qualifications to act as pilot-in-command (PIC) prior to each flight;

b. Documentation showing all Vet Air pilots ’ flight experience, airman certificate information, and currency of FAA medical certificate;

c. Documentation from each pilot showing that at the time he/she accepts a CMF under this exemption, he/she meets a ll minimum standards and appropriate currency requirements established by Ve t Air, part 61, and all conditions and limitations of this exemption; and

d. Documentation of each flight and re imbursement containing the following information, at a minimum:

i. Name and pilot certif icate number of the PIC;

ii. Name and identifier of the departure and arrival airports;

iii. Name of all occupants of the airplane excluding the PIC;

iv. Date and time of depa rture and arrival; and

v. Amount of the fuel reimbursement.

e. All the documentation required under C ondition/Limitation No. 4 must be maintained by Vet Air for a minimum of 24 calendar months.

5. All pilots operating under the terms of this exemp tion must possess the following certificates, qualifications a nd aeronautical experience —

a. An instrument rating or Airline Tran sport Pilot (ATP) certificate that is appropriate to the ai rcraft being flown;

b. A minimum total time of 500 hours, with no less than 400 hours as PIC, and a minimum of 50 hours in the specific ma ke and model of the aircraft being flown;

c. A minimum of 50 hours as PIC must have been logged with in the preceding 12 calendar months immediately pre ceding the month of the flight;

d. A minimum of 12 hours flown and logge d within the preceding 3 calendar months prior to the month of flight. In lieu of this requirement, a pilot may4

have logged 2 hours of flight training with a certif icated flight instructor within the preceding 3 calendar months pr ior to the month of the flight;

e. A second-class medical certificat e (per §§ 61.23(a)(2)(ii) and 61.2);

f. A current flight review (per § 61.56(a)) in the same aircraft category, class, and type (if a type rating is required) being flown;

g. Within the preceding 12 calendar months , an instrument proficiency check (IPC) meeting the requirements of § 61.57(d). The IPC must be conducted in accordance with the Instrument Rating Practical Test Standards. This requirement can be substituted by a FAA practical test for an ATP certificate or instrument rating.

h. In addition to meeting the IPC require ment of § 61.57(d) as specified in Condition/Limitation No. (5)(g), the p ilot must meet the recent flight experience requirements of § 61.57(c), in th e same aircraft category, class, and type (if a type rating is required) being flown;

i. For all operations under this exemption, the pilot must meet the recent flight experience requirements for night operations (per § 61.57 (b)) in an aircraft of the same category, class, and type (if a type rating is required).

6. All operations under this exemption must be in complia nce with the following flight duty, rest, and flight time limitations (a duty day starts when the pilot arrives at the airport and begins preparation for the f light and terminates upon completion of the post flight inspection of the aircraft):

a. No pilot may fly more than 8 hours of flight time (per § 61.1) within any 24-consecutive-hour duty day period;

b. No pilot may perform a duty day in excess of 12 consecutive hours; and

c. Once the pilot has performed 12 consecutiv e hours of duty, the pilot must rest a period of at least 12 hours be fore conducting any other CMF.

7. Prior to each takeoff, the PIC must ensure th at all occupants have been orally briefed on the following:

a. The flight is being permitted under this grant of exemption and that the operator is not a certificated commercial operator;

b. When, where, and under what conditions smoking is allowed;

c. Use of safety belts, shoulder harnesse s, and child restraint systems: When, where, and under what conditions it is necessary to fasten passenger safety belts and, if installe d, shoulder harnesses;5

d. The placement of seat backs in an upright position before takeoff and landing;

e. Location and means for opening the passe nger entry door and emergency exits;

f. Location of survival equipment;

g. Use of normal and emergency oxygen installed; and

h. Location and operation of fire extinguishers.

An FAA sample briefing document can be found in the July/A ugust 2014 edition of the FAA Safety Briefing Magazine, located online at: http://www.faa.gov/news/safety_brie fing/2014/media/JulAug2014.pdf#page=26

8. Vet Air must implement procedures to notify the passengers (or their legal guardians) that will be on the flight that the flight operation is for charitabl e purposes and is not subject to the same FAA requirements as a commercial flight. These procedures must allow for the notification to be given as ear ly as possible to th e passengers (or their legal guardians). Such notific ation must also be provide d to any individual that inquires about receiving or scheduling a CMF.

9. Each aircraft operated under this exemp tion must have a standard airworthiness

certificate.

10. The aircraft must be maintained and in spected in accordance with 14 CFR part 91 Subpart E, 14 CFR part 43, or other in spection programs approved by the FAA.

11. All pilots operating under this exemption must comply with the following requirements:

a. All flights operated under this exempti on must activate an IFR flight plan. The earliest the flight plan may be cance led is upon visual contact with the destination airport;

b. For flights in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), each pilot may only use airports that have a functioning, published, precision approach procedure;

c. Each pilot must add 100 feet and 1⁄2 mile to all instrument approach minimums;

d. Each pilot must add 50 percent to pilot operating handbook (POH) runway length performance for obstacle clearance on takeoff and landing under ambient conditions;

e. For IMC takeoff minimums, each pilot must ensure that the weather meets approach landing minimums with the additional margin noted in Condition/Limitation No. 11 (c) (Example: If the Baltimore-Washington International Airport minimums are 200/ 1/2, then the takeoff minimums will

be at least 300 feet and 1 statute-mile visibility);6

f. Prior to each takeoff, the PIC must en sure that patients, who may need the assistance of another person to exit the aircraft if an emergency occurs, have received a briefing as to th e procedures to be followed if an evacuation occurs;

g. Each pilot will utilize and brief passengers about sterile cockpit procedures as defined under § 135.100.

12. Vet Air must develop and implement a preflight risk assessment tool. The tool must be completed by the PIC before each flight and must be transmitted to Vet Air prior to takeoff for any flight operated under this exemption. The completed tool must be retained by Vet Air for a minimum of 30 days. Vet Air must identify a maximum score flight value, or other a ppropriate measure, that is permissible for a flight to be initiated under this exemption. Sample risk assessment tools are available from the following sources:

i. FAA Information for Operators (InFO) 07015: http://www.faa.gov/other_visit/avia tion_industry/airline_operators/airli ne_safety/info/all_in fos/media/2007/info07015.pdf.

ii. The AOPA Flight Risk Evaluator: (h ttp://flash.aopa.org/asf/flightrisk/)

The FAA recognizes that any sample tool us ed to assess any poten tial safety risk during preflight planning should be modified to adequately address the risk for general aviation aircraft and Vet Air’s specific ope ration. As an example, the sample Flight

Risk Assessment Tool as outlined in InFo 07015 scores icing as a risk value of 5 when it is moderate to severe. However, for mo st general aviation aircraft, known icing conditions of any value should be co nsidered grounds for cancellation or postponement of a flight.

13. Vet Air must develop and implement an initial pilot ground training program that includes the following:

a. Principles and methods for determini ng weight and balance, and runway limitations for takeoff and landings;

b. Completion of the online AOPA Foundation Air Safe ty Institute Course: Public Benefit Flying: Balancing Safety and Compassion;

c. Completion of the online AOPA Foundation Air Safe ty Institute Course: Single Pilot IFR ; and

d. Informing the pilot of where a copy of this exemption can be located and requiring the pilot to become familia r with the conditions and limitations.7

14. Recurrent training is required for all pilots operating unde r this exemption. The annual recurrent training program must include ve rification that each pilot is adequately trained, current, and proficient on all of th e elements in the Vet Air initial pilot training program described in Condition/Limitation No. 13.

15. Vet Air may not exercise the privileges of this exemption unless Vet Air receives verification indicating acceptance of the Vet Air risk assessment tool (Condition/Limitation No. 12) and the initial and recurrent pilot ground training program (Condition/Limitation Nos. 13 and 14) from the FAA General Aviation & Commercial Division (AFS-800). This docum ent may be sent to the FAA Airman Certification and Training Branch, 800 Independence Ave SW, Washington DC 20591 or via e-mail to 9-AFS-800-Correspondence@faa.gov.

16. Vet Air must maintain a copy of the aircra ft logbook entry for the most recent annual inspection of any aircraft used to conduct flights unde r this exemption.

17. The privileges of this exemption may be ex ercised only for flights within the District of Columbia, the 48 contiguous United States, its territories, and th e states of Alaska and Hawaii. This exemption is not valid for operations in airspace outside of the United States, or in an intrastate operati on that involves flight through international airspace.

18. The FAA may, at any time or place, conduct inspections of the pilots, aircraft, and any records required to be kept in accordance with this exemption.

The Effect of Our Decision

This exemption terminates on August 31, 2017, unless sooner superseded or rescinded.

Sincerely,

//s//

John Barbagallo Deputy Director, Flight Standards Service

Enclosure Exemption Nos. 10009 and 10019