Statement of Intent

Neptune Aviation Services, Inc. respectfully requests your consideration of this Petition for Exemption from 14C FR § 2 1. 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 (curre ntly 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

. E ach 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) . O ur flight crews are fully qualified to respond to and assess a new fire before any other resources are available, determine the most effective a pplication 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 the m

. Additional high priority tanker missions include protecting lives,
homes and other propert ies , 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 time s , 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
the se time s 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 clos ed 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, e ach LAT is on duty during the contract season for six days in a row and then ha s a day o ff for crew rest . Days off are staggered throughout the entire fleet to maximize coverage. Fairly often, we are able to make good use of th e 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

cover age basis . This will make our being able to repair our aircraft to return to availability even more challenging under a much more compresse d timeframe. An exemption from 14C FR § 2 1. 197 (c) would allow Neptune Aviation to quicklymove an aircraft under a co mpany 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
ob tain a SFP when needed to expedite repair of a tanker and returning it to service. T h is particular instance
demonstrate s 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 request s exemption from this regulation and to be granted authorization for company issuance of a SFP based on th e same authority granted air carriers and fractional fleet operators for continu ing 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 requir ements

. 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 m aintenance Required Item Inspection (RII) program has been developed and implemented for both the P2V and BAe

- 146 fleets.

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

. 4. Flight and maintenance personnel receive annual and sp ecialized training as needed

5. Instituted a Deferred Maintenance Item (DMI) Program and a formal F unctional Check Flight (FCF) program for post

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

6. The company operates two Part 145 C ertificated 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, comple x 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.