4933 Bailey loop 

McClellan. CA 95652 

916.921.4000 

Toll-Free Membership 

line: 888.207.LIFE 

CALSTAR 1 CAL STAR 3 CALSTAR 5 CALSTAR CALS R 

177 John Glenn Dr. 13750 Lincoln Way r: 37 Mortensen Ave. 3996 Mitchell Rd. 5835 Price Ave. 

Concord, CA 94520 Auburn, CA 95603 Salinas. CA 93905 Santa Maria, CA McClellan. CA 95652 

925.798.7670 530.887.0569 

~ 408.848.2075 93455 916.925.0359 

805.938.9038 

c.At.S.-4R CAL.-., 4 C.ALS R 

540 Cohansey Ave. 1351 S. State St. CALSTA 1901 Airport Blvd. STA 

Gilroy, CA 95020 Ukiah. CA 95482 S. lake Tahoe, CA 

408.848.2075 707.462.5972 96150 

530.544.2338 

March 1, 201 

U. S. Department of Transportation, Docket Operations 

West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Dear Sirs 

301 County Airport Rd. 

Vacaville, CA 95688 

925.798.7670 

On October 8, 2015, the AFS 200 office of the FAA issued the attached exemption to 

Calstar for relief from 135.611(b). This exemption is valid until October 31, 2017. 

Since the Executive Branch has issued an executive order freezing all regulatory 

actions by government agencies, our expectation that the issue which generated the 

need for the exemption will not be resolved prior to our expiration date. 

Therefore, Calstar Air Medical Services LLC (STRA2901) respectfully requests that 

we be granted a two year extension to our existing exemption (13133). 

Thank you for your consideration. Should you have any questions, I may be reached 

at my office 916-921-4029 or cell608-220-1760. 

Sincerely 

ScottTish 

Director of Operations 

Enclosure 

CALSTAR.ORC 

I 

Critical Care in Motion 
Exemption No. 13133 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION 

WASHINGTON, DC 20591 

In the matter of the petition of 

CALIFORNIA SHOCK TRAUMA 

AIR RESCUE 

for an exemption from§ 135.611(b) 

of Title 14, Code of 

Federal Regulations 

Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2015-1868 

GRANT OF EXEMPTION 

By letter dated May 18, 2015, Mr. Scott Tish, Director of Operations, California Shock 

Trauma Air Rescue (CALSTAR), 4933 Bailey Loop, McClellan, California, 95652, petitioned 

the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on behalf of CALSTAR for an exemption from 

§ 135.611(b) ofTitle 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). The proposed exemption, if 

granted, would allow CALST AR to conduct instrument flight rules (IFR) departures and IFR 

approach procedures at airports and heliports that do not have an approved weather reporting 

source in helicopter air ambulance (HAA) aircraft and without functioning severe weather 

detection equipment (airborne radar or lightning strike detection equipment) when there is no 

reasonable expectation of severe weather at the destination, the alternate, or along the route of 

flight. 

The petitioner requests relief from the following regulation: 

Section 135.6ll(b) prescribes that certificate holders authorized to conduct IFR helicopter air 

ambulance operations at airports with an instrument approach procedure and at which a weather 

report is not available from the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS), a source approved by the 

NWS, or a source approved by the FAA, must be equipped with functioning severe weather 

detection equipment. 

The petitioner supports its request with the following information: 

CALST AR petitions for an exemption from § 135.611 (b) in order to conduct IFR operations at 

locations without weather reporting in helicopters without functioning severe weather detection 

equipment. It seeks to exercise this relief in its HAA operations with helicopters that have a 

passenger seating configuration of nine seats or less. 

AFS-15-1934-E 

-------
CALST AR emphasizes that the exemption would apply only when current weather reports 

indicate that thunderstorms or other potentially hazardous weather conditions are not reasonably 

expected to exist at the destination or at the alternate airport at the estimated time of arrival 

(ETA). The petitioner states that its pilots will use all available weather products during 

preflight planning (i.e., RotorWatch, Direct User Access Terminal, Aviation Digital Data 

Service, and any other NWS data) to determine that severe weather does not exist and is not 

forecast to exist at the destination or at the alternate at the ETA. In addition, CALST AR 

highlights that its Flight Risk Assessment Tool (FRAT) will be structured to identify any IFR 

operation to a destination and alternate where the potential for severe weather exists. The 

petitioner adds that constant monitoring and continued risk mitigation with the certificate holder 

or the CALST AR Operational Control Center (OCC) will be required prior to and during flight 

if that risk is identified and, if the risk cannot be mitigated, the flight will be declined or 

aborted. 

CALST AR believes that a grant of exemption will maintain an equivalent level of safety to 

§ 135.6ll(b). The petitioner states that, if allowed, the exemption will help avoid the potential 

for controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accidents caused by pilots trying to remain in visual 

meteorological conditions (VMC) when the weather is clearly instrument meteorological 

conditions (IMC). CALSTAR asserts that the purpose of§ 135.611 is to facilitate IFR 

operations and result in more aircraft operating in a positively controlled environment, thereby 

increasing safety for HAA operations. C ALSTAR contends that a grant of exemption would be 

consistent with the safety goal of§ 135.61 1 because preflight planning and risk assessment, 

weather interpretation training for its pilots and Operations Control Specialists (OCS), and 

constant operational control oversight and flight monitoring would mitigate the risk of 

operations in areas of severe weather. 

CALST AR maintains it is in the public's best interest to utilize the IFR infrastructure to the 

fullest extent possible by allowing access to all Intrument Approach Procedures (lAP) in 

accordance with§ 135.61l(a), (c), and (d), regardless of the weather reporting capabilities at the 

landing site. The petitioner contends that it is safer to file an IFR flight plan and to operate 

under IFR than to conduct operations under marginal visual flight rule (MVFR) conditions. 

CALST AR believes that the exemption sought would allow IFR operations more often, thereby 

minimizing MVFR operations and increflsirlg safety. 

In addition, CALST AR maintains that a grant of exemption would serve the public interest by 

allowing greater access to HAA assets that can expedite the air transportation of patients 

directly to a specialty care facility. CALSTAR states that it operates in an environment 

challenged by the visibility and ceiling limitations of stratus and marine layer cloud cover o~ a 

consistent basis. Further, the petitioner explains that denial of a patient's access to specialty ~are 

in the necessary timeframe by restricting IFR operations in weather that generally does not 

include any severe or convective activity, such as these stratus or marine layers, is contrary to 

the public's best interest. The petitioner concludes that a grant of exemption will avoid the delay 

of transporting patients through ground transportation by allowing flight in weather conditions 

that would benefit from an IFR flight plan, while still avoiding flight in severe weather 

conditions. 

2 
In its petition, CALST AR states that it will mitigate the risk of flight into severe weather by 

training and evaluating its pilots and OCSs m the following subjects on an annual basis: 

1. IFR flight planning 

2. Use and interpretation ofNWS weather chruts 

3. Interpretation of live radar feeds 

4. Significant Meteorological Information (SIGMETs) and Airmen's Meteorological 

Information (AIRMETs) 

5. METARS and Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts (TAFs) 

6. Interpretation and appropriate use of available cockpit weather displays 

7. The applicability and use of this exemption 

The petitioner emphasizes that its General Operations Manual (GOM) clearly restricts flight into 

thunderstorms or other hazardous weather conditions with aircraft that do not have thunderstorm 

detection equipment or airborne weather radar installed. 

The FAA found the petition, if granted, would set a precedent. Therefore, to allow for the public 

to comment on the petition, a summary of the petition was published in the Federal Register on 

June 8, 2015 (80 FR 32432). No comments were received. 

The FAA's analysis is as follows: 

One of the FAA's intentions in authorizing HAA IFR operations is to ensure that these 

operations are not conducted unless reliable weather information for the destination airport is 

available to the pilot. Generally, this has meant that current weather from a source approved by 

the FAA is available at, the airport where an IFR approach is conducted. When the FAA 

authorized HAA IFR operations into airports without weather reporting, it required aircraft to be 

equipped with onboard severe weather detection equipment. In both cases, the pilot has a 

reliable severe weather information sourc~ available, either through the airport weather report or 

through onboard severe weather detection equipment. 

Section 13 5.173 requires, in part, thunderstorm detection equipment in helicopters with a 

passenger seating configuration, excluding any pilot seat, of 10 seats or more in passengercarrying operations, under IFR or night visual flight rules (VFR) when current weather reports 

indicate that thunderstorms or other potentially hazardous weather conditions that can be 

detected with airborne thunderstorm detection equipment "may reasonably be expected along 

the route to be flown." Section 135.175 states, in pertinent part, "No person may begin a flight 

under IFR or night VFR conditions when current weather reports indicate that thunderstorms, or 

other potentially hazardous weather conditions that can be detected with airborne weather radar 

equipment, may reasonably be expected along the route to be flown, unless the airborne weather 

radar equipment required by paragraph (a) Dfthis section is in satisfactory operating condition." 

Both§§ 135.173 and 135.175 allow flight under IFR to be conducted without functioning severe 

weather detection equipment as long as the p ilot detennines there is no reasonable expectation 

of thunderstorms or other potentially hazardous weather along the route. 

3 
Although § § 13 5.173 and 13 5.17 5 allow lFR operations without functioning severe weather 

detection equipment, the IFR operating limitations and weather requirements of§§ 135.213, 

135.219, and 135.225 require the certificate holder to obtain a weather report from a weather 

reporting facility operated by the NWS, a source approved by the NWS, or a source approved by 

the FAA. The FAA previously granted exemptions from applicable paragraphs of§§ 135.213, 

135.219, and 135.225 (i.e., Exemptions No. 9490 and No. 9665) to permit helicopter medical 

transport operations to conduct IFR approach procedures and departure procedures at airports 

without weather reporting. The conditions and limitations listed in Exemptions No. 9490 and 

No. 9665 required that each helicopter operated under the exemption must be "equipped with 

severe weather detection equipment, such as airborne weather radar or lightning detection. This 

equipment must be operating." Unlike past exemptions which required functioning severe 

weather detection equipment for instrumenl approach procedures and instrument departure 

procedures at airports without weather reporting, CALST AR seeks relief to conduct IFR 

operations at locations without weather reporting and without this equipment, but with other 

pre-takeoff planning, risk analysis and flight monitoring measures. 

Since issuance of previous exemptions, the FAA published the Helicopter Air Ambulance, 

Commercial Helicopter, and Part 91 Helicopter Operations final rule (79 FR 9932; February 21 , 

2014). This rule requires certificate holders with 10 or more helicopter air ambulances to 

establish an OCC staffed with OCSs (§ 135.619) by April22, 2016. The OCS communicates 

with pilots, provides weather information. monitors flights and assists with preflight risk 

assessments, providing an additional measure of safety for complex operations. Section 135.617 

requires HAA operators, regardless of size, to have an FAA approved and documented Risk 

Analysis Program that includes procedures for elevating the final post mitigation risk to a higher 

management level for approval when the total risk exceeds a predetermined threshold. A 

preflight risk analysis provides certificate holders with the means to assess and mitigate risk and 

make determinations regarding the flighfs safety before launch. For HAA operators with OCCs, 

the pilot in command (PIC) will be required to complete a risk analysis worksheet and the OCS 

will be required to review and concur with the pilot's risk analysis worksheet. This overlap is 

intended to provide larger operations with an additional measure of review over the flight's risk 

analysis. 

The compliance date for the requirement for larger HAA operators, such as CALST AR, to 

establish an OCC is A11ril 22, 2016. The. FA A has previously granted exemption from 

§ 135.6ll(b) in circumstances where the petitioner has already established an OCC that meets 

the requirements of§ 135.619 (Exemption No. 12556). The FAA finds that CALSTAR's 

circumstances are different because it is still in the process of establishing an OCC that fully 

meets the requirements of§ 135.619. 

The agency has, however, considered that smaller operators and operators that are required to 

implement an OCC but that have not yet done so may use similar appropriately scaled methods 

and techniques to achieve the same functionality as an OCC. The FAA finds that smaller 

operators and operators that have not yet established an OCC can establish flight monitoring 

capabilities utilizing personnel trained on availablility of severe weather reporting and 

forecasting products and appropriate methods of communicating observed real-time location and 

rate of development of severe weather. 

4 
The FAA finds that granting an exemption from the requirement for on board severe weather 

detection equipment wpuld not adversely affect safety if CALST AR provides appropriate 

training in conveying thunderstorm reporting and forecasting to flight crew and OCS or 

personnel assigned to monitor operations to ensure that this exemption is utilized only when 

there is no reasonable expectation of thunderstorms or other potentially hazardous weather that 

could otherwise be detected along the route with onboard weather radar or lightning detection 

equipment. The application of appropriate analysis of the risk of encountering severe weather 

and the availability and application of real-time ground based weather radar feeds and other 

approved weather information sources can provide the pilot timely forewarning of an IFR HAA 

flight operation that may be threatened by severe weather, further enhancing safety. CALSTAR 

states that its FRAT wiJI be structured to identify any IFR operation to a destination and 

alternate where the potential for severe weather exists. The petitioner adds that constant 

monitoring and continued risk mitigation will be required prior to and during flight if that risk is 

identified and that the flight will be declined or aborted if the risk cannot be mitigated. In this 

regard, the FAA finds that the OCS or trained personnel assigned to monitor the flight support 

the HAA pilot in monitoring factors that may affect the flight and serves as a ground-based 

continuing verification of the pilot's risk analysis. 

The limitation of this exemption to circumstances when there is no reasonable expectation of 

thunderstorms or other potentially hazardous weather along the route, the provision of training 

in weather reporting a11d forecasting to HAA pilots and OCSs or trained personnel assigned to 

monitor the flight, the completion of required risk assessments by the pilot and the OCS or 

personnel assigned to monitor the flight, and the ability of the OCS or other trained personnel to 

continuously monitor the flight and provide current weather information to the pilot factor into 

the FAA's determination that a grant of exemption would provide an equivalent level of safety. 

The FAA emphasizes that if a reasonable expectation of severe weather exists during the flight 

and in the vicinity of the planned route, the helicopter must be equipped with operable severe 

weather detection equipment or the flight must be declined or aborted. 

The FAA finds, when conducted in accordance with the conditions and limitations provided 

below, the safety ofCALSTAR HAA operations would not be adversely affected when 

conducting IFR departures and IFR approach procedures in HAA aircraft without functioning 

severe weather detection equipment at airports and heliports that do not have an approved 

weather reporting source. The public interest would be served by granting an exemption from 

§ 135.611(b) by increasing the opportunity for additional access to critical care patient flights 

when weather conditions are below those required for VFR operations. In addition, the FAA 

finds that it is safer and in the public interest to encourage the utilization of the IFR 

infrastructure to the fullest extent possible, thereby avoiding the potential for CFIT accidents 

during flights conducted under MVFR conditions. 

The FAA's Decision 

In consideration of the foregoing, the FAA finds that a grant of exemption is in the public 

interest. Therefore, pursuant to the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 1 06(f), 40113 and 

44 7 0 1, delegated to me by the Administrator, California Shock Trauma Air Rescue is granted 

an exemption from 14 CFR § 135.611(b) to the extent necessary to conduct IFR departures 

5 
and IFR approach procedures at airports and heliports that do not have an approved weather 

reporting source, subject to the conditions and limitations described below. 

Conditions and Limitations 

1. This exemption is limited to IFR HAA operations conducted by CALSTAR (operating 

certificate STRA2901) in accordance with§ 135.601 in helicopters with a passenger 

seating configuration of nine seats or less (excluding any pilot seat). 

2. Use of this exemption is authorized only at airports or heliports with an instrument 

approach procedure and at which a weather report is not available from the NWS, a 

source approved by the NWS, or a source approved by the Administrator. 

3. When conducting operations undffthe provisions of this exemption, CALSTAR and the 

PIC must comply with§§ 135.611(a), (c), and (d) as applicable. 

4. The PIC and either a CALSTAR OCS or other CALSTAR personnel who satisfy the 

requirements of Condition and Limitation No. 8 of this exemption must participate in 

the IFR pre-flight planning and risk analysis required by§ 135.617 for the purpose of 

assessing the probability of severe weather. If the PIC or either the OCS or personnel 

who satisfies the requirements of Condition and Limitation No.8, determines that there is a 

reasonable expectation of thunderstorms at the destination airport or heliport, at the 

alternate airport or heliport, or along the route to be flown for the period of time planned 

for the flight, the flight must be declined. 

5. Each PIC who conducts operations under this exemption must use current weather 

observations and forecast information obtained from the NWS or from a source approved 

by the FAA, to determine that there is no reasonable expectation of thunderstorms at the 

destination airport or heliport, at the alternate airport or heliport, or along the route to be 

flown for the period of time planned for the flight. Sources include all of the following: 

AIRMET, SIGMET, Convective SIGMET, METAR, Regional NEXRAD, NOTAM, 

PIREP, and T AF or other aviation weather forecast, as appropriate and available. 

6. All flights conducted under this grant of exemption must be continuously monitored by a 

CALST AR OCS or other CALST AR personnel who satisfy the requirements of 

Condition and Limitation No. 8 of this exemption. Any information concerning 

thunderstorms and severe weather must be provided directly to the PIC via two-way 

communication system or by relay through a communications center. 

7. Flight planning for IFR flights conducted under this exemption must include selection of 

an alternate airport that meets the requirements of§§ 135.221 and 135.223 and has an 

approved weather reporting source in accordance with§ 135.213. 

8. CALSTAR must amend its FAA-approved training program as provided in§ 135.325 to 

ensure all pilots conducting IFR operations under this exemption and all CALST AR OCSs or 

other CALST Atl{ persmmel monitoring flights satisfactorily complete additional initial and 

6 
recurrent training, checking and testmg on the subjects identified in paragraphs a through f. 

of this Condition and Limitation prier to operating under the provisions of this exemption. 

The pilot recurrent training, testing and checking on the subjects identified in paragraphs a. 

through f. of this condition and limitation must take place within 12 calendar months before 

service as a pilot operating in compliance with this exemption. The OCS or other personnel 

monitoring the flight must complete this additional recurrent training and testing every 

12 calendar months after completion of initial training and testing. The training, testing, and 

checking, as applicable to the pilot and the OCS or other personnel monitoring the flight must 

include the following subjects: 

a. The applicability and use of this exemption; 

b. IFR operating procedures for locations without weather reporting; 

c. IFR flight planning considerations for thunderstorms and convective activity; 

d. Use and interpretation ofNWS charts, weather reports, and forecast products that 

depict current or forecast thunderstonn activity as well as weather services, such 

as pilot reports, AIRMETs,. S£GMETs, live radar feeds, and in-flight severe 

weather advisories; 

e. Interpretation and appropriate use of available cockpit weather displays including 

the significant limitations ofNEXRAD or similar mosaic weather displays and 

that such in-flight graphic weather depictions may not be used for penetration of 

areas of thunderstorms or navigation around thunderstorms; and 

f. Methods for determining weather conditions including the presence of severe 

weather precursors during observations by the pilot. This must include methods 

for determining present visibility (measured or estimated), methods for 

determining estimated ceilings, and methods for weather observation used by the 

NWS. 

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

Issued in Washington, DC on OCT 0 8 2015 

~:£4M 

John Barbagallo 

Deputy Director, Flight Standards Service 

7