Exemption No. 10137 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION 

WASHINGTON, DC 20591 

 

In the matter of the petition of 

 

CHARTER FLEET Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2009-0460

INTERNATIONAL 

 

for an exemption from § 43.3(g) 

of Title 14, Code of 

Federal Regulations 

DENIAL OF EXEMPTION 

By letter dated May 12, 2009, Mr. Peter K. Sorensen, Director of Maintenance, 

Charter Fleet International, d.b.a. CharterOps (Charter Fleet), 1021 Westbrook St, Portland 

ME 04102, petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on behalf of Charter Fleet 

for an exemption from § 43.3(g) of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). The 

proposed exemption, if granted, would allow Charter Fleet pilots conducting part 135 

operations to perform preventive maintenance, specifically to verify the tire pressure using a 

calibrated tire pressure gauge. 

The petitioner requires relief from the following regulation:

Section 43.3(g) prescribes that, except for holders of a sport pilot certificate, the 

holder of a pilot certificate issued under part 61 may perform preventive maintenance 

on any aircraft owned or operated by that pilot which is not used under part 121, 129, 

or 135 of this chapter. The holder of a sport pilot certificate may perform preventive 

maintenance on an aircraft owned or operated by that pilot and issued a special 

airworthiness certificate in the light-sport category. 

Section 135.435(a) states, in relevant part, except for maintenance, preventive 

maintenance, alterations, and required inspections performed by a certificated repair 

station that is located outside the United States, each person who is directly in charge 

of maintenance, preventive maintenance, or alterations, and each person performing 

required inspections must hold an appropriate airman certificate. 

AFS-09-259-E 
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The petitioner supports its request with the following information:

In anticipation of an upcoming FAA Airworthiness Directive, Bombardier filed a Temporary 

Flight Manual (TFM) Change request for the Learjet 60/60XR, which the FAA approved on 

March 9, 2009. This TFM specifically reflects that the Airplane Flight Manual will be 

changed as follows: “The nose and main tire pressure must be checked within 96 hours (not 

flight hours) prior to takeoff using the procedures listed in Chapter 12 of the Learjet 

Maintenance Manual.” 

On February 26, 2009, the FAA Office of the Chief Counsel stated in a legal opinion that 

“checking tire pressure on a Learjet Model 60 aircraft is preventive maintenance and not a 

simple preflight inspection task.” 

Charter Fleet then petitioned for an exemption to uphold its operational commitments enable 

its pilots to perform the tire pressure checks required by the FAA. 

To provide an equivalent level of safety, Charter Fleet states that it would provide training for 

its pilots on reading tire pressure, as well as using a properly calibrated tire pressure gages. 

Trained pilots would then be able to check the tire pressure and preserve the same level of 

safety as could a certificated mechanic. 

Charter Fleet states that allowing its pilots to check tire pressure would not adversely affect 

safety. In fact, it has experienced several incidents where its aircraft were positioned at 

remote strips, with no maintenance facility, for a week. 

A summary of the petition was published in the Federal Register on July 2, 2009 

(74 FR 31793). No comments were received. 

The FAA's analysis is as follows: 

The FAA has considered Charter Fleet’s petition for an exemption from 14 CFR § 43.3(g) and 

determined that a grant of exemption would not provide a level of safety equivalent to that 

under the regulation. 

First, Charter Fleet’s petition affects more than § 43.3(g). If granted, an exemption would 

allow a pilot certificated under part 61 to perform preventive maintenance, which is governed 

by part 43, and, except as provided in 14 CFR § 43.3(g), must be performed by a mechanic 

certificated under part 65. Under 14 CFR § 43.3(g), a pilot certificated under part 61 may 

perform preventative maintenance of an aircraft, which is not operated under part 135. 

According to § 135.435, all preventative maintenance performed on or for a part 135 aircraft 

type certificated for 10 passengers, must be done by a certificated airframe and powerplant 

mechanic licensed under part 65. The Learjet 60 is type certificated for 8-10 passengers and 

is therefore governed by § 135.435. Charter Fleet did not request relief from this regulation, 

nor describe how it would provide for a level of safety equivalent to that provided by § 

135.435. 
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Further, the Office of the Chief Counsel’s February 26, 2009 legal opinion stated the FAA’s 

position on this issue as follows: 

The FAA may agree that the pilot of a small general aviation airplane may change and 

repair its landing gear tire, but the agency would not consider the changing and repair 

of a landing gear tire on a large transport category airplane to be preventive 

maintenance that a pilot could permissibly do. 

Your [the requester’s] letter stated that Learjet Model 60’s engineering and pilot 

specialists believe ample precedent exists for “qualified pilots to safely perform tasks 

that require mechanical, physical interaction with the airframe under the umbrella of 

preflight checks.” You [the requestor] followed with a long list of examples of 

preflight actions performed daily by professional pilots, including many actions that 

require use of a calibrated device. Our response to your request takes no position on 

the propriety of any of the cited examples as preflight tasks. 

We discussed this issue with officials in the FAA’s Flight Standards Service, Aircraft 

Maintenance Division (AFS-300), and concur with their determination that checking 

tire pressure on a Learjet Model 60 aircraft is preventive maintenance and not a simple 

preflight inspection task. We believe their determination is a reasonable one based on 

the relevant facts and circumstances. These include the high tire air pressure (up to 

219 psig), the need for a proper and calibrated gauge, and the possibility of an 

incorrect reading if the check is not performed properly. Accordingly, a pilot 

operating that aircraft under the operating rules of 14 C.F.R. part 91 may, in 

accordance with the provisions of 14 C.F.R. § 43.3(g), perform daily landing gear tire 

pressure checks. Under the same regulation, however, a pilot of that aircraft operating 

under 14 C.F.R. parts 135 may not perform that task. 

Finally, in response to this petition, the FAA reviewed Temporary Revision 12-16 to the 

maintenance manual. We concluded that this change, as written, is intended to be performed 

by a trained airframe and powerplant mechanic. 

We also reviewed the Learjet pilot training outline. Although merely an outline, it does not 

address any of the topics stated in Temporary Revision 12-16. These topics are found in the 

maintenance manual, which aircraft pilots do not normally read. This highlights that 

Bombardier does not intend for pilots to perform maintenance. In contrast, an airframe and 

powerplant mechanic is trained to pay particular attention to tire wear, brake wear, and brake 

over-heating while performing a tire pressure check. Therefore, having a pilot perform this 

task would not provide an equivalent level of safety. 

The FAA’s Decision: 

In consideration of the foregoing, I find that a grant of exemption would not be in the 

public interest. Therefore, pursuant to the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 40113 
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and 44701, delegated to me by the Administrator, the petition of Charter Fleet International 

d.b.a. CharterOps for an exemption from 14 CFR § 43.3(g) is hereby denied. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on September 20, 2010. 

/s/ 

Raymond Towles 

Acting Director, Flight Standards 

 Service