AFS

- 15

- 415

- E Exemption No. 11819

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON, DC 20591

In the matter of the petition of

NATIONAL AVIATION Regulatory Docket No. FAA

- 2010

- 1256

ACADEMY OF NEW ENGLAND

for an exemption from § 65.75(a) of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations

PARTIAL GRANT OF EXEMPTION

By letter dated January 6, 2015, Mr. Alan Hayes, Director of Education, National Aviation Academy

- New England (NAA

- NE) , 150 Hanscom Dr., Bedford MA 01730, petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA) for an extension of exemption No. 10211, as amended, from § 65.75(a) of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). Th is exemption extension would allow students enrolled in NAA

- NE’s part 147 aviation maintenance technician school (AMTS) in Bedford, Massachusetts, operating under Air Agency Certificate EC6T068K, to take the Aviation Mechanic General (AMG), Aviation Mechanic Airframe (AMA), and Aviation Mechanic Powerplant (AMP) written tests after completing the corresponding portion of the c urriculum, but prior to meeting the experience requirements of 14 CFR § 65.77. Exemption No. 10211 , a s amended, expired on February 28

, 2015 ; therefore, we will treat your request for an extension as a petition for a new exemption.

We also amend the cond itions and limitations of your prior exemption, in accordance with our ongoing efforts to standardize § 65.75 exemptions, and as described in greater detail below.

The petitioner requests relief from the following regulation :
Section 65.75(a) requires, in pertinent part, that “[ e ] ach applicant for a mechanic certificate or rating must, after meeting the applicable experience requirements of § 65.77, pass a written test covering the construction and maintenance of aircraft appropriate to the rating he seek s, the regulations in [subpart D (Mechanics),] and the applicable provisions of parts 43 and 91

. ”2

The petitioner supports its request with the following information:

The Petitioner states there has been no change in the conditions and reasons relative to public interest and safety that were the basis for granting the original exemption. The FAA has also determined that good cause exists for not publishing a summary of the petition in the Federal Register because the relief granted herein would not set a precedent, and any delay in acting on this petition would be detrimental to NAA

- NE.

The FAA's analysis is as follows:

Although t he petition does not differ materially from others on record, the FAA recently reevaluated its past § 65.75(a) exemptions afte r determining that they could inadvertently enable an individual to obtain his or her AMA or AMP certificate without satisfying the mechanic certificate eligibility requirements of § 65.77.

Any s tudent seeking a mechanic certificate must, among other th ings, satisfy the experience requirements in § 65.77 and take written, oral, and practical tests. Under § 65.80, an AMTS may under some circumstances administer a student’s oral and practical test before the student satisfies the experience requirements. All students, however, must satisfy § 65.77 before taking any written tests. By granting NAA

- NE ’s request to allow students to also take the AMA and AMP written tests before completing the experience requirements in § 65.77, we could inadvertently enable those students to circumvent our eligibility requirements. More specifically, a student could obtain a copy of his or her academic record indicating that the student has passed the AMA or AMP examinations, and provide that record to another school

withou t disclosing that the student n ever satisfied the appropriate experience requirements.

T he presence of grades on a transcript could erroneously suggest that a student both completed the AMA or AMP examinations and satisfied the § 65.77 experience requirem ents. The FAA has therefore taken action to amend all such exemptions by issuing a Partial Grant of Exemption to all affected AMTSs.

The FAA does not have the same concerns regarding students who take the AMG examination before satisfying § 65.77. A stud ent who successfully completes the AMG exam is not eligible to receive a mechanic certificate until after the student also completes the AMP or AMA exams. There is therefore no risk that a student who completes the AMG exam prior to satisfying the § 65.77 experience requirements will circumvent our regulations.

In addition, certain conditions and limitations included in this partial grant are necessary to ensure an equivalent level of safety with § 65.75(a). These majority of these conditions

— requiring t he petitioner to develop written testing procedures, include those procedures in its approved operating document or manual, and obtain approval of those procedures from its Certificate Holding District Office

— will ensure that the school’s educational progr am and curricula continue to meet FAA regulatory standards. The other condition of this exemption requires that, before the petitioner may retest any student who has failed the AMG test and3

who also does not meet the experience requirements of § 65.77, th e petitioner must retrain the

student on the instructional item(s) associated with the failed test and authorize the student to retake the test. To be clear, any student who is eligible to take the AMG test on the basis of his or her own experience, who d oes not need to rely on this exemption, may retrain according to § 65.19

— including with any appropriately certificated airman. However, this exemption also creates a population of students who do not satisfy the § 65.77 experience requirements,

and who ar e eligible to retake the AMG test only because of the petitioner’s exemption. To maintain an equivalent level of safety, this exemption requires the petitioner to retrain these students itself, using FAA

- approved curricula and in accordance with the FAA’s AMTS standards, including the quality of instruction standards codified in § 147.38a.

The FAA’s Decision

The FAA is in the process of withdrawing or amending all previously granted exemptions to § 65.75(a), which enabled an AMTS to administer the AMG, AMA, and AMP written tests immediately following a student’s successful completion of the corresponding curricula. The FAA’s new or revised exemptions allow students to take the AMG examination immediately after completing the corresponding curriculum, bu t do not allow students to take the AMA or AMP examinations before completing the corresponding curricula. In consideration of the foregoing, I find in the present case that a partial grant of exemption is in the public interest.

Pursuant to the author ity contained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 106(f), 40113, and 44701, delegated to me by the Administrator, NAA

- NE is granted an exemption from § 65.75(a) to the extent necessary to allow National Aviation Academy

- New England in Bedford, MA, under Air Agency Certificate EC6T068K, to administer the AMG written test to any student immediately following his or her successful completion of the general curriculum, and before meeting the experience requirements of 14 CFR § 65.77, subject to the conditions and

limitations liste d below.

Conditions and Limitations

1. National Aviation Academy

- New England must develop written procedures for administering the AMG written test to National Aviation Academy

- New England students immediately following successful completion of the general c urriculum.

2. National Aviation Academy

- New England must ensure these procedures are available for use in National Aviation Academy

- New England ’s approved operating or curriculum procedures document or manual.

3. Before retesting a student who has failed the A MG examination and also does not meet the experience requirements of 14 CFR § 65.77 , National Aviation Academy

New England must require the student to repeat the instructional item(s) associated

with the failed test and receive authorization from National Aviation Academy

- New England to retake the test. National Aviation Academy

- New England must have procedures for documenting and tracking compliance with all retesting procedures.4

4. Before exercising the privileges of this exemption

, National Aviation Acad emy

- New England must provide revised procedures to its Certificate Holding District Office for review and approval.

National Aviation Academy

- New England ’s request for an exemption from § 65.75(a), to

enable them to administer the AMA and the AMP written tests to a student after that student has completed the corresponding portion(s) of the curriculum, but prior to meeting the experience requirements of 14 CFR § 65.77, is denied.

This exemption terminates on May 31, 2017, unless sooner superseded or resc inded.

Issued in Washington, D.C., on May 3, 2015

.

/s/ John Barbagallo Deputy Director, Flight Standards Service5

Project No.: AXX

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Project Officer: _______________

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