Statement of Intent

Neptune Aviation Services, Inc. respectfully requests your consideration of this Petition for Exemption from 14CFR 

§21.197(c) Certification Procedures for Products, Articles, and Parts, Special flight permits with a continuing 

authorization. 

General

Neptune Aviation Services, Inc. is a contractor to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), providing Large Air Tanker (LAT) aircraft 

used in wildfire suppression over the last 21 years. Neptune operates a fleet (currently 14 aircraft) of BAe-146-200A and 

P2V-5/-7 LAT aircraft and continues to be the single largest provider of LAT aircraft to the USFS. Each LAT is considered a 

national resource in the wildfire suppression effort and are a high demand resource for fire incident commanders. 

The most prevalent use of Neptune LAT aircraft is in the form of Initial Attack (IA). Our flight crews are fully qualified to 

respond to and assess a new fire before any other resources are available, determine the most effective application of 

retardant, and to proceed to drop as needed. Through the IA process, many fires are contained to small areas and 

ground crews are able to quickly extinguish them. Additional high priority tanker missions include protecting lives, 

homes and other properties, utilities, archeological sites, and highly critical national and state resources. 

Basis for Exemption Request

Due to the critical nature of our mission, any time a LAT is out of service for a maintenance issue, the urgency of 

repairing it and returning it to service is paramount. In most instances, we are able to repair the aircraft at the tanker 

base and return to availability. However, at times, it is critical in terms of safety, repair time, and minimizing down time

to ferry the aircraft to one of our maintenance repair stations located in Missoula, MT and Alamogordo, NM. It is during 

these times where we need a Special Flight Permit (SFP) from a Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) to ferry an aircraft 

that we have encountered considerable difficulty due to our unique mission and operations.

The very nature of our mission is one that requires our fleet of tankers to be dispersed throughout a large geographical 

area. This area can cover Alaska, western Canada, the U.S. western mountain states, California, Texas, and southeast 

potentially into Florida, on any given day. In dealing with this large geographic area, we also have to take into account 

potentially dealing with multiple FSDO’s and the time zone effect. Neptune headquarters are located in the Mountain 

Time Zone and when trying to arrange for a SFP for an aircraft in Florida being in the Eastern Time Zone, we are already 

two hours behind in approaching the FSDO normal closing time of 16:30 hours local. Often, we will reach a point in our 

troubleshooting of the maintenance issue where it is well after 16:30 local and we cannot speak with anyone at the 

FSDO until the next morning. Another factor that we often encounter is the local FSDO being closed on the weekends 

and holidays, with no on-call inspector availability.

Neptune was previously granted Exemption No.11771, Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2015-0058 on June 5, 2015 to issue 

Special Flight Permits (SFP) by exemption from 91.611 for three engine ferry flight to maintenance for our BAe-146-200A 

fleet. This exemption has been used several times since issuance with positive results.

Seven Day Coverage Requirement

Presently, each LAT is on duty during the contract season for six days in a row and then has a day off for crew rest. Days 

off are staggered throughout the entire fleet to maximize coverage. Fairly often, we are able to make good use of the 

day off to successfully manage a maintenance event in place. However, many times the aircraft requires maintenance 

on a day where we are not able to take advantage of the day off, so it remains unavailable for an extended time.

For the 2016 fire season and beyond, the U.S. Forest Service is requiring LAT aircraft to operate on a 7-day a week 

coverage basis. This will make our being able to repair our aircraft to return to availability even more challenging under

a much more compressed timeframe. An exemption from 14CFR §21.197(c) would allow Neptune Aviation to quickly 
move an aircraft under a company issued SFP to a maintenance base where additional mechanics and parts are readily 

available in a closely controlled environment. 

Attachment 1 to this document gives an example of a time when FSDO unavailability caused delay in our being able to 

obtain a SFP when needed to expedite repair of a tanker and returning it to service. This particular instance 

demonstrates why Neptune Aviation is requesting an exemption from 14CFR §21.197(c) for our entire fleet of LAT 

aircraft.

Exemption Request

14CFR §21.197(c) – Neptune Aviation requests exemption from this regulation and to be granted authorization for 

company issuance of a SFP based on the same authority granted air carriers and fractional fleet operators for continuing

authorization to ferry aircraft. Having this authority will expedite our moving aircraft to one of our maintenance 

facilities, especially at times where we need a SFP after normal FSDO business hours, on weekends, and during holidays.

Company Organization and Resources

While Neptune Aviation is operating under Part 91 for the majority of our flight time, and then under Part 137 while in 

the fire control area, the company has chosen to mimic much of Part 121 and 135 Air Carrier regulatory requirements. 

We enhance safety and streamline flight and maintenance operations through company policy that have established the 

following items:

1. Operate a 24/7 Maintenance Control Center (MCC) to manage the fleet while deployed on contract.

2. A comprehensive maintenance Required Item Inspection (RII) program has been developed and 

implemented for both the P2V and BAe-146 fleets.

3. Neptune Aviation has an active Safety Management System (SMS) program in place.

4. Flight and maintenance personnel receive annual and specialized training as needed

5. Instituted a Deferred Maintenance Item (DMI) Program and a formal Functional Check Flight (FCF) program 

for post-maintenance events (i.e. heavy checks, annual inspections, modification, etc.)

6. The company operates two Part 145 Certificated Repair Stations (Missoula, MT and Alamogordo, NM) to 

support the fleet, perform annual inspections and maintenance checks, and modify aircraft.

7. Retain several aeronautical engineering firms that are heavily involved in all modifications, complex repairs, 

and fleet health monitoring for the fire-fighting environment.

8. All aircraft are monitored continually for g-force exceedances using Latitude instrumentation. The resulting 

flight data is monitored by both the USFS and company contracted engineers.