AFS

- 14

- 389

- E Exemption No. 11124 Regulatory Docket No. FAA

- 2012

- 0031

Mr. Richard Litka

Director of Maintenance Aero Contractors, Ltd.

3463 Swift Creek Road Smithfield, NC 27577

Dear Mr. Litka:

This letter is to inform you that we have g ranted your petition for exemption, but as a Full Grant rather than as an extension to Exemption No. 10443 as requested in your petition

. It explain s the basis for our decision, describes its effect and provides the new Exemption

No. 11124

.

The Basis for Our Decision

We entered your undated letter into the public docket (FAA

- 2012

- 0031) on July 24,

2014. In that letter, you petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on behalf of Aero Contractors, Ltd. (A CL ) for an extension of Exemption No. 10443. That

e xemption allows Aero Contractors the continued operations of one DC

- 3 series airplane

, S/N 25509, without complying with the digital fli ght data recorder requirements of 14 CFR § 125.226(b)(1).

Section 125.226(b)(1) prescribes, that for all turbine

- engine powered transport category airplanes manufactured on or before October 11, 1991, by August 20, 2001, not equipped as of July 16, 1996, with a flight data acquisition unit (FDAU), the parameters listed in paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(18) of this section must be recorded within the ranges and accuracies specified in Appendix D of this part, and

—2

(i) For airplanes with more than two engines, t he parameter described in paragraph (a)(18) is not required unless sufficient capacity is available on the existing recorder to record that parameter. (ii) Parameters listed in paragraphs (a)(12) through (a)(17) each may be recorded from a single source.

ACL i nitially petitioned the FAA via letter s dated December 20, 2011 and January 17,

2012 for exemption from 14 CFR § 125.226 Digital Flight Data Recorder (FDR) requirements. In that petition, you stated that your affected airplane had been initially certificated without a Flight Data Recorder System and had operated in part 125 service via a deviation. In 2008, the FAA promulgated rules that no longer permitted deviations from FDR regulations, effective Febr uary 2012. Your petition stated there were no available Supplemental Type Certificates (STC) for an 18 parameter FDR system installation for your DC

- 3 airplane. In order to meet the regulatory requirements, you intended to install an image recorder in li eu of a traditional flight recorder and use the time petitioned for to prove equivalence to a standard FDR . The FAA granted you r petition, stating that we have an interest in the development of alternative recorder technologies. The exemption , No. 10443, was contingent upon ALS demonstrating good faith effort in support of regulatory compliance.

In an undated letter entered into the FAA docket on October 1, 2013

, you petitioned the FAA for an eight

- month extension of exemption No. 10443. In your petition , you state d that the image recorder system you intended to install in the affected airplane as a means of complying with the requirements of 14 CFR § 125.226(b)(1) had been ground and taxi tested, and found to be incapable of achieving regulatory complian ce. You stated that another, more viable image recorder system had been identified, but even that became a

less

- than

- optimal solution because Basler Turbo Conversions (Basler) announced

intentions to secure an STC to provide an 18 parameter flight data re corder system for your air plane . You state d the Basler STC was expected to be available in June , 2014, and that you intend ed to use the STC to bring your airplane into compliance with 14 CFR § 125.226(b)(1). You claimed the extension was necessary to allow Basler time to obtain

its STC and to install the system on your affected airplane. The FAA granted your petition for extension with certain conditions and limitations.

You have now, via undated letter, pet itioned for an additional nine month exten sion of your existing exemption, No. 10443A, to allow time for Basler to finish work on the

STC , which you state is now expected in December 2014) and to subsequently acquire the necessary components and install th e modifications on your airplane

.

On October 29, 2014

, you provided the FAA a copy of STC number ST03296CH issued on September 29 th , 2014 to Standard Aero Business Aviation Services, LLC for the installation of a Digital Flight Data Recorder System. Acco rding to the Conditions and Limitations of the STC, it applies only to Basler Turbo Conversions DC3

- TP67 airplanes. According to airworthiness and registration documents on file with the FAA, your DC3 was modified by Basler Turbo Conversions to the DC3

- TP 67 configuration in April,3

1992. You also supplied the FAA upon request a copy of your purchase order , dated

October 28 th , 2014 with Basler Turbo Conversions for the installation of the DFDR system that is the subject of the STC on your DC3 airplane, registration number N845S

, SN 25509

.

The FAA has determined that good cause exists for not publishing a summary of the petition in the Federal Register because the requested exemption would not set a precedent, and any delay in acting on this p etition would be detrimental to Aero Contractors, Ltd

.

The FAA has determined that the petition for extension addressed here differs in material aspects from the justification presented fo r the issuance of Exemption No. 10443.

Ex emption 10443 was granted to ACL not only to permit ACL time to bring its affected airplane into compliance with applicable FDR regulations, but also to demonstrate the viability of alt ernative recorder technologies. The first extension, Exemption No.

10443 A , should not have been granted as an extension; the reasons for the initial exemption were no longer in effect.

H owever, ACL continues to act in good faith to achieve regulatory c ompliance. You have worked closely with the FAA in your efforts to demonstrate image recorder viability. You identified, procured and began initial testing of a different, more capable image recording system just prior to the start of the STC work applic able to your airplane . That modification is now available for purchase. Installation of the STC modification will bring your aircraft into compliance with the requirements of § 125.226(b)(1)

. The FAA finds that an exemption to accomplish this retrofit i s in the public interest. You made a good faith effort to assist in the development of an image recorder system that was not in the end viable, and now need additional time to install modifications not previously available to achieve compliance

.

Our De cision

In consideration of the foregoing, I find that a grant of exemption is in the public interest. Therefore, pursuant to the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 40113 and 44701, delegated to me by the Administrator, Aero Contractors is granted an exemp tion from 14 CFR § 125.226(b)(1), as applicable, to the extent necessary to allow Aero Contractors, Ltd. to operate the subject airplane until it is retrofitted and evaluated to meet the requirements of that section, subject to the conditions and limitatio ns listed below.

Conditions and Limitations:

1. This exemption applies only to the following airplane:

Make Model Serial No. Douglas DC

- 3 255094

2. This exemption applies only to the recordation of the parameters required by

14 CFR § 125.226(b)(1) and listed in § 125.226(a)(1 ) through (18), by airplane with

serial number 25509.

3. This exemption is contingent upon Aero Contractors, Limited providing a copy of a purchase order with Basler Turbo Conversions for the installation of an 18

parameter Flight Data Recorder System, to its Princip al Avionics Inspector (PAI) no later than December 21, 2014. Failure to pro vide the purchase order will cause this exemption to terminate immediate ly.

4. With that purchase order, by December 2 1 st , 2014

, Aero Contractors must also submit to its PAI a firm schedule for accomplishing the final modifications of the flight data recorder system used to collect the flight data required by

14 CFR § 125.226(b)(1) and Appendix D to Part 125.

5. No airplanes may be add ed to the list of a ffected airplanes listed in condition No. 1, regardless of the date of acquisition.

6. No extensions of this exemption will be considered.

This exemption terminates on October 31st , 201 5 , unless sooner superseded

, rescinded

, or terminated by failure to comply with the terms and conditions listed.

Issued in Washington, DC, on December 16, 2014

/s/

John S. Duncan Director, Flight Standards Service