Moody-SevenBar Aviation 2017

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U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration 'AUG. 2 2·2011 SevenBar Aviation Attention: Mr. Steve Moody --.:'

Office of the Chief Counsel 800 Independence Ave., S.W.

Washington, D.C. 20591

Re: Flight time limitations and rest requirements for unscheduled one and two pilot crews under 14 C.F.R. § 135.267.

Dear Mr. Moody:

This is in response to your letter dated September 24, 2015, presenting several questions pertaining to the flight and duty requirements of 14 C.F.R. § 135.267. For your convenience, we have restated your questions below, followed by our interpretation of pertinent parts of the applicable regulation.

Question 1: Wh.ether the flexibility afforded to flight crews under§ I 35.267(b), which allows for the extension offlight duty times in light ofunforeseen circumstances beyond the control of the flight crew or the certificate holder who performed reasonable preflight planning, should be afforded to flight crews ofcertificate holders operating under §J35.267(c).

The goal of flight and duty time regulations is to prevent crew fatigue. Section 135.267 establishes two mechanisms to determine applicable flight time limitations and rest requirements for flight crews of certificate holders conducting unscheduled operations under 14 C.F.R. part 135, using one or two pilot crews. Such certificate holders can assign their flight crews to a: (a) moving 24-hour consecutive schedule, in which case, the requirements and limitations of§ 135.267(b) apply, or (b) regularly assigned duty period of no more than 14 hours, in which case, the requirements and limitations of§ 135.267(c) apply. See Legal Interpretation to Daniel Berry, from Rebecca B. MacPherson, Assistant Chief Counsel for Regulations (May 22, 2009). FAA regulations allow flight crews of certificate holders operating under§ 135.267(b) to exceed the maximum flight time established in§ 135.267, ifthe extension is due to circumstances beyond the control of the flight crew and the certificate holder. In contrast, flight crew of certificate holders operating under§ 135.267(c) cannot exceed the rigid, maximum duty period of 14 hours allowed for in such subsection. Any certificate holder or flight crew who conducts operations under§ 135.267(c) and exceeds the 14-hour duty period threshold, violates§ 135.267(c). This is an inflexible rule, which results from

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industry interest in creating a standardized alternative to resolve the operational gap resulting from disruptions of flight crew utilization due to the extension of flight duty periods pursuant to§ 135.267(b). Notwithstanding the above, the FAA will not consider the following to constitute a violation of§ 135.267(c): if the certificate holder or flight crew reasonably anticipates that the flight segment(s) can be conducted under the 14 hour threshold, but the flight is unexpectedly delayed enroute due to unanticipated events, thereby exceeding the 14 hour maximum duty time mandated by§ 135.267(c). See Legal Interpretation to Mr. Ross, from Donald P. Byrne, Assistant Chief Counsel, Regulations Division (August 30, 1993).

Question 2: Whether a certificate holder is able to operate under§ 135. 267(c) if its flight crews commence their duty periods at a set time each day, but culminate their flight shifts at different times each day.

Subsection 135.267(c) applies exclusively to regularly assigned duty periods. When operating under§ 135.267(c), the commencement and conclusion of the 14-hour duty day should not vary on a daily basis. See Legal Interpretation to Daniel Beny, from Rebecca B. MacPherson, Assistant Chief Counsel for Regulations (May 22, 2009) and Legal Interpretation to John Barney, from Donald P. Byrne, Assistant Chief Counsel, Regulations and Enforcement Division (Dec 19, 1991) (Confirming that a regularly assigned duty period means a tirneframe where a pilot "comes to work and .. .goes home at the same time every day").

The FAA allows infrequent deviations from a regularly assigned work schedule conducted under§ 135.267(c). However, "if the pilot's schedule has intermittent periods where the duty time fluctuates from day to day or week to week, the operator is not maintaining a regular work pattern." In such case, the operation should be conducted under§ 135.267(b). Therefore we must stress that if the flight crew's duty time fluctuates on a regular basis, it would not be able to operate under 135.267(c). See Legal Interpretation to Doug Holee, from Donald Byrne, Acting Assistant Chief Counsel, Regulations and Enforcement Division (July 22, 1989).

We trust that the above adequately responds to your concerns. If you need further assistance, please contact my staff at (202) 267-3073. This response was prepared by Francisco E . Castillo, General Attorney in the Regulations Division of the Office of the Chief Counsel, and coordinated with the Air Transportation Division of the Flight Standards Service.

Sincerely,

~-f -~\___..)' Ou_G_f2__/_j::::,._ Lorelei Peter Assistant Chief Counsel for Regulations, AGC-200

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ScvenDar 81 l l Lemmon Avenue Hangar 4 Dallas, TX 75209 USA info@7bar.com www.7bar.com T 214 / 904 / 9911 214 / 904 / 0865 800 / 592 I 3669 Federal Aviation Administration Office of the Chief Counsel 800 fodependence Ave, S.W.

Washington, D.C. 20591 September 24, 20 l 5

SUBJECT: Clarification of past interpretations of 14 CFR 135.267(c)

Dear Sir,

After review of the many legal interpretations sunounding this rule, I am writing to gain one element of clarification regarding the application of§ 135.267(c). Please consider the facts of our operation described below.

) . We op~rat.e under Air Carri~r Ce!fi:fica~e. GNLA.3901.;:, ~s. an on-pemand operator in .... c~m.m~:n ~~;r,iage. of paSsehgers'iind c~rgo'.-. .... : . . " . : . . . 2 ... We op~rat~ helicopt~rs ~d airpian~s s~l~Iy fo1: the. purpo~~ .of ~ir transpo~ati.on . of · c·riticaily ill ~d .injured .patient.$ und~r OpSpec A.oil and ,,\'o24. · ·· 3. We do not opei-ate under §i35/271. , . . . . . . .

4. Our General Operati'ons Manu'al states that ~e comply with §135.267(c), and not.· §135.267(b). Furthennore, it states that rest periqds must meet the three requirements for rest as defined in e;:trlier legal interpretations.

5. Our pilots repmt for regular duty periods (shifts) ~ach day at specific times without variation.' .

6. Pilots are. assigned 4 shifts every 8 days, and each shift is scheduJed for between. I 0 and 12 hours depending on hospital preferences.

7. Each shift is immediately preceded by and followed by a required rest period of at least 10 hours.

8. Flight requests for patient transports. are initiated by hospital communication centers. Pilots may or may not fly during their shift.

9. Our General Operations Manual states that no flight requ~st may be accepted if planning shows that the aircraft wo-μld return after 14 hours has elapsed since the beginning of the crew member's s~ift, . or if flight time limits would be exc.eeded.

In a 2012 l~tter from Assistant Chief Counsel MacPherson to Jason Kidd, Ms. MacPh~rson references § 13 5,.267(d) ·~he~' ~he ~xplalris_ th~t a flight may C<?ntinue beyond the originally "planned" completion ~(j 4.'~oq~~ if, ti1e fii~ht ~rew..if the ,o~ig.i.rial pl~i:i mg. ~s up~~t. ~)'for rea,sons J?eyond the control of the ce~tific~te . h8 1A~~- . 9.l:·the piJpi... S!1.~ .cqntinues to ·~~piai~·i that 'based ori..prior' ' . interpretations in' this matter; late-arrivi;1g passenger's do in.deep constitute c.ircumstances beyond our control. · · .. · :. · · · · ·

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Paragraph 135.267(d) specifically references :flights assigned under §135.267(b), and many interpretation letters focus on the flight time limitations and rest requirements therein. Furthermore, letters consistently state that air can·iers must choose whether to operate under the Rolling 24-hourclock rule of§ 13 5 .267 (b), or the Assigned-duty-period rule of paragrnph ( c). Each letter I have reviewed mentions that late arriving passengers are beyond our control, and flights may continue to their final destination under 135.267(d), even though these flights would retmn beyond 14 hours if reasonable preflight planning showed otherwise. These same letters unfortunately to not specifically address paragraph c, and even suggest that the same latitude may not be granted to operations under l35.267(c) because of an assumption th.at the end times of these duty period do not vary.

In the on-demand Air Medical business, our pilots begin their duty assignment each day at the same time, however, the shift end times may vary routinely. If a crew flies during a duty assignment, many factors are faced which can upset the original planning, and force a flight crew to operate beyond their original planned completion time. These are usually due to unpredictable patient complications and ground transportation delays. In some cases, the flight may be forced to return after 14 how-s of continuous duty.

If the FAA recognizes that flights may be continued beyond 14 hours for u.planned events under 135.267(d) [Kidd, 2012 and Ross 1993] then would it not be reasonable to expect the same flexibility to be applied in operations conducted under subsection 135.267(c)? Clearly whether they are operating under paragraph b or c is irrelevant since they are both equally subject to the same kinds of unplanned circumstance.

Please provide your feedback to these two key positions:

1. The same level of flexibility should be applied for unpianned circumstances and their potentiai to impact extended duty periods regardless of whether an air carrier choose to operate under 135.267(b) or 135.267(c); and 2. Although duty periods for a crewmember may begin at the same time each day, the fact that they may not always end at the same, would not disqualify an operator from exercising the privileges of 135.267(c), and the extended flight time limits it allows. Please return your interpretation of these positions at your earliest convenience. Thank you for your time, ~·-- / Director of Operations 972-971-3630