1

Exemption No. 12556

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION

WASHINGTON, DC 20591

In the matter of the petition of 

 

AIR METHODS CORPORATION Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2015-1867

 

for an exemption from § 135.611(b) 

of Title 14, Code of 

Federal Regulations 

 

GRANT OF EXEMPTION

 By letter received May 22, 2015, Mr. Dennis McCall, Director of Operations, Air Methods 

Corporation (Air Methods), 7211 South Peoria Street, Englewood, Colorado, 80112, petitioned 

the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on behalf of Air Methods Corporation for an 

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

exemption, if granted, would allow Air Methods 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 aircraft 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 135.611(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:

Air Methods petitions for exemption in order to conduct IFR operations at locations without 

weather reporting without having the functioning severe weather detection equipment required 

by § 135.611(b). It seeks to exercise this relief in its helicopter operations with a passenger 

seating configuration of nine seats or less.
2

Air Methods emphasizes that the exemption would apply only when current weather reports or 

forecasts indicate that there is no reasonable expectation of thunderstorms or other severe 

weather at the destination, alternate, or along the route to be flown for the period of time 

planned for the flight. In addition, the petitioner highlights that the exemption would apply only 

when additional preflight planning, triggered by the Air Methods Preflight Risk Assessment 

Program, must be completed before the first leg of each Helicopter Air Ambulance (HAA) 

operation. 

Air Methods believes that a grant of exemption would enable an alternate means of compliance 

and maintain an equivalent level of safety to § 135.611(b). The petitioner 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. Air Methods 

contends that a grant of exemption would be consistent with the safety goal of § 135.611

because preflight planning, training for pilots, and operational control oversight by the 

certificate holder would mitigate the risk of operations in areas of severe weather. 

Air Methods argues that the recent interpretation of § 135.611(b) as requiring airborne weather 

radar or lightning detection equipment has the unintended consequence of encouraging HAA 

operators to fly in marginal weather conditions under visual flight rules (VFR). Air Methods 

states that it does not conduct IFR operations in severe weather conditions. However, Air 

Methods believes that it is safer to file an IFR flight plan and to operate under IFR than to 

conduct operations under VFR in marginal visual meteorological conditions (VMC). Air 

Methods adds that the exemption sought would allow IFR operations more often, thereby 

minimizing marginal VFR operations.

Air Methods maintains that it is in the public interest to utilize the IFR infrastructure to the

fullest extent possible thereby avoiding the potential for controlled flight into terrain (CFIT)

accidents caused by pilots trying to remain under VFR when the weather is marginal. Air 

Methods asserts that the public interest will also be served by increasing the opportunity for

additional access to critical care patient flights. Air Methods states that if this exemption is not

granted it would negatively affect the public interest by reducing the number of available HAA 

flights. Air Methods contends that a fully trained crew, following proper IFR procedures, in a

properly equipped aircraft, will enhance safety.

In its petition, Air Methods identified the following limitations for inclusion in an exemption 

from § 135.611(b):

1. Additional weather briefing requirements for flights under § 135.611.

a. The pilot will use information obtained from the NWS to determine that

thunderstorms or other severe weather conditions are not reasonably expected to

exist at the destination, IFR alternate airport or along the route to be flown for

the period of time planned for the flight;
3

b. The following aviation weather products must be reviewed in making that

determination; AIRMET, SIGMET, CONVECTIVE SIGMET, METAR,

REGIONAL NEXRAD, NOTAM, PIREP, and TAF; and

c. No IFR operation under § 135.611 will be authorized if current weather reports

or forecasts indicate the potential for thunderstorms or other severe weather to

exist at the destination, alternate or along the route to be flown for the period of

time planned for the flight. If such potential exists, the pilot must refuse the

flight.

2. Flight monitoring by the Operations Control Center (OCC).

Once the flight becomes active, the Air Methods OCC uses specialized software, Flight 

Management System (FMS), that automatically monitors the flight plan, current

position and destination of all active flights. The FMS automatically alerts the

Operations Control Specialist (OCS), by text and with visual alerts on the FMS display,

when there are thunderstorms or severe weather within 30 nautical miles (NM) of an 

aircraft or a point on the route of flight.

The Air Methods OCC continuously monitors all flights for thunderstorms and severe

weather and provides that information to the pilot by:

a. Relay through the Communications Center to the pilot;

b. Contacting the pilot directly via satellite phone; or

c. Contacting the pilot directly over Air Methods’ internet based voice

communications system.

The OCC provides general advice such as, “there are thunderstorms to your west --

recommend you divert to the east.”

3. Training for Air Methods’ pilots and OCSs. 

Annual training for Air Methods pilots and OCSs will be completed on an annual basis

and will include the following subjects:

a. IFR flight planning (4.0 hours);

b. Use and interpretation of NWS weather charts (2.0 hours);

c. Interpretation of live radar feeds (2.0 hours);

d. SIGMETS and AIRMETS (2.0 hours);

e. METARS and TAFs (2.0 hours);

f. Interpretation and appropriate use of available cockpit weather displays (2.0

hours); and

g. The applicability and use of this exemption (1.0 hours).
4

The petitioner states that the limitations it outlined and included above are described in the Air 

Methods General Operations Manual (GOM) and Approved Training Programs.

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 15, 2015 (80 FR 34195). 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 source available, either through the airport weather report or 

through onboard severe weather detection equipment.

Section 135.173 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 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) of this 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 pilot determines there is no reasonable expectation 

of thunderstorms or other potentially hazardous weather along the route.

Although §§ 135.173 and 135.175 allow IFR 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 instrument approach procedures and instrument departure 

procedures at airports without weather reporting, Air Methods seeks relief to conduct IFR 
5

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). The OCS communicates with pilots, provides

weather information, and monitors flights and assists with preflight risk assessments, providing 

an additional measure of safety for complex operations. In addition, § 135.617 of the rule 

requires each HAA operator to establish and document, in its operations manual, an FAAapproved preflight risk analysis. 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 flight’s 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 Air Methods, to 

establish an OCC is April 22, 2016. However, the FAA notes that Air Methods has been issued 

Operations Specification A021 indicating that it has established an OCC staffed with trained and 

tested OCSs to support the risk analysis review and flight monitoring detailed in the above 

paragraph.

The FAA finds that granting an exemption from the requirement for onboard severe weather 

detection equipment would not adversely affect safety if Air Methods provides appropriate 

training in interpretation of thunderstorm reporting and forecasting to flight crew and OCSs 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 with 

onboard weather radar or lightning detection equipment along the route. 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. Air Methods states that it 

currently utilizes a risk analysis program which provides for a review of the HAA pilot’s 

weather analysis by a person trained and qualified to serve as an OCS, including a review of the 

determination of the likelihood of severe weather along the route. The Air Methods OCC 

constantly monitors a flight’s progress and weather conditions along the route and maintains the 

ability to advise a pilot, via multiple methods, when a deviation to flight route, such as a 

diversion to an alternate airport, may be necessary. In this regard, the FAA finds that the OCS

supports the HAA pilot in monitoring factors that may affect the flight and serves as a groundbased continuing verification of the pilot’s risk analysis. 
6

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 and forecasting to HAA pilots and OCSs, the completion of required risk 

assessments by the pilot and the OCS, and the ability of the OCS 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.

Additionally, the FAA has determined that radio altimeters are an important safety enhancement 

for helicopter operations and has mandated that all helicopters in part 135 on demand and 

commuter air carrier service be equipped with radio altimeters after April 24, 2017 (§ 135.160). 

This safety enhancement is especially valuable when operating IFR and when executing an 

instrument approach to airports that do not offer weather reporting because radio altimeters can 

greatly improve a pilot’s awareness of height above the ground during hover, night operations, 

and when landing in confined areas where a more vertical approach may be required. 

Additionally, radio altimeters help increase situational awareness in potential flatlight, whiteout, 

and brownout conditions. Therefore, the FAA has included the requirement that each aircraft 

operating under this exemption must be equipped with an operable radio altimeter in the 

conditions and limitations below. 

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

below, the safety of Air Methods HAA operations would not be adversely affected when IFR 

departures and IFR approach procedures are conducted 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 Marginal VFR (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. §§ 106(f), 40113 and

44701, delegated to me by the Administrator, Air Methods Corporation is granted an

exemption from 14 CFR § 135.611(b) to the extent necessary to conduct IFR departures 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.
7

Conditions and Limitations

1. The exemption is limited to IFR helicopter air ambulance operations conducted by Air 

Methods (operating certificate QMLA253U) 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 under the provisions of this exemption, Air Methods and 

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

4. When performing IFR pre-flight planning and risk analysis, the PIC and OCS must 

assess the probability of severe weather. If the PIC or OCS determines that there is a

reasonable expectation of thunderstorms exists 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 TAF or other aviation weather forecast, as appropriate and 

available.

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

an Air Methods OCS. Any information concerning thunderstorms and severe weather 

must be provided directly to the pilot 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. Each helicopter operated under this exemption must be equipped with an approved and

operable radio altimeter.

9. Air Methods must amend its FAA-approved training program as provided in § 135.325 to 

ensure all pilots conducting IFR operations under this exemption and all OCSs reviewing risk 

analyses and monitoring flights conducted under this exemption satisfactorily complete 

additional initial and recurrent training, checking and testing prior to operating under the 

provisions of this exemption. The pilot recurrent training, testing and checking, must take 
8

place within 12 calendar months before service as a pilot. The OCS recurrent training and 

testing must take place every 12 calendar months after completion of initial training and 

testing. The pilot and OCS training, testing and checking, as applicable, 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 of NWS charts, weather reports, and forecast products. This 

review must emphasize weather products that depict current or forecast thunderstorm 

activity as well as weather services, such as pilot reports, AIRMETS, SIGMETS, live 

radar feeds, and in-flight severe weather advisories;

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

significant limitations of NEXRAD 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 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 August 31, 2017, unless sooner superseded or rescinded. 

Issued in Washington, DC on August 21, 2015
AFS-15-532-E

Project No.: AFS-15-1926-E

Project Officer:___________________

ARM-101:KJones: 8/7/2015: Doc#46731

ARM-1/100/101: Program Office AFS-200 

MR DENNIS MCCALL

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

AIR METHODS CORPORATION

7211 SOUTH PEORIA

ENGLEWOOD COLORADO 80112