[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 234 (Wednesday, December 7, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-30005]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: December 7, 1994]


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Part II





Department of Transportation





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Federal Aviation Administration



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14 CFR Parts 121 and 135




Part 135 Regulatory Review; Proposed Rule
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Parts 121, 135

[Docket No. 27982, Notice 94-33]

 
Part 135 Regulatory Review

agency: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

action: Request for comments.

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summary: By this notice, the FAA solicits comments from the public, 
including Part 135 operators that conduct scheduled operations for 
compensation or hire in airplanes with passenger seating configurations 
of 10 to 30 seats and aircraft manufacturers, on the recent 
recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) 
related to commuter airline safety. The FAA seeks comment on any aspect 
of the NTSB recommendations, without limit, including the potential 
safety benefits and financial costs, if any, for each of the NTSB 
recommendations. Comments received on the recommendations enumerated in 
this notice will assist the FAA in determining future regulatory action 
and may point out specific exceptions or alternatives that should be 
considered. Comments received will be considered by the FAA in the 
rulemaking process, as applicable.

dates: Comments must be received on or before December 30, 1994.

addresses: Comments should be mailed, in triplicate, to Federal 
Aviation Administration, Attention: Rules Docket (AGC-200), 800 
Independence Ave., SW., Washington DC, 20591. Comments must be marked 
Docket No. 27982. Comments may be examined in room 915G weekdays 
between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., except on Federal holidays.

supplementary information: On November 15, 1994, the National 
Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued 10 recommendations to the 
Federal Aviation Administration as a result of the NTSB's study of 
commuter airline safety. The FAA is considering rulemaking for each 
area where rulemaking is appropriate. In announcing these 
recommendations, the NTSB stated that the standards for safety should 
be based on the characteristics of the flight operations, not the 
seating capacity of the aircraft and that passengers on commuter 
airlines should be afforded the same regulatory safety protections 
granted to passengers flying on Part 121 airlines.
    With this notice, the FAA is soliciting comments on the following 
recommendations and the FAA's response thereto:
    1. Revise the Federal Aviation Regulations such that:
     All scheduled passenger service conducted in aircraft with 
20 or more passenger seats be conducted according to the provisions of 
14 CFR Part 121.
     All scheduled passenger service conducted in aircraft with 
10 to 19 passenger seats be conducted in accordance with 14 CFR Part 
121, or its functional equivalent, wherever possible.
    2. Require principal operations inspectors to periodically review 
air carrier flight operations policies and practices concerning pilot 
tasks between flights to ensure that carriers provide pilots with 
adequate resources (such as time and personnel) to accomplish those 
tasks.
    3. Revise the Federal Aviation Regulations contained in 14 CFR Part 
135 to require that pilot flight time accumulated in all company flying 
conducted after revenue operations * * * such as training and check 
flights, ferry flights and repositioning flights * * * be included in 
the crewmember's total flight time accrued during revenue operations.
    4. Revise within 1 year the pilot training requirements for 
scheduled Part 135 operators such that:
     All pilot training for aircraft with 10 or more passenger 
seats be conducted in accordance with Subparts N and O of 14 CFR Part 
121.
     All pilots are provided mandatory crew resource management 
training that incorporates the principal components of effective CRM 
training, as outlined in Advisory Circular AC 120-51A, ``Crew Resource 
Management Training.''
     All flightcrew members complete the initial operating 
experience currently required only of pilots-in-command under Part 
135.244.
    5. Issue within 6 months a final rule of 14 CFR Part 142 concerning 
the certification and operation of training centers.
    6. Revise the certification standards for Part 25 and for Part 23 
(commuter category) aircraft to require that a flight simulator, 
suitable for flightcrew training under Appendix H of Part 121, be 
available concurrent with the certification of any new aircraft type.
    7. Revise the Federal Aviation Regulations to require all flight 
attendants to participate, during recurrent training, in emergency 
drills that allow them the opportunity to use emergency equipment and 
to practice procedures under simulated emergency conditions.
    8. Revise the Federal Aviation Regulations to require that all air 
carriers operating under Parts 121 and 135 establish a safety function, 
such as outlined in Advisory Circular AC 120-59, ``Air Carrier Internal 
Evaluation Programs.''
    9. Establish a joint industry/government task force, such as an 
Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC), comprising 
representatives from the FAA, air carriers, aircraft manufacturers, and 
the academic community to review the qualification standards and 
training curriculum of air carrier inspectors. The intent of the task 
force should be revisions to the qualifying and training standards for 
air carrier inspectors that will (a) increase their familiarity with 
air carrier operations and maintenance in general, as well as the 
specific operations of the air carriers they inspect; and (b) enhance 
their knowledge of the Federal Aviation Regulations and provide for 
more standardized interpretation and enforcement of the regulations.
    10. Enhance the level of safety at airports served by commuter 
airlines by:
     Seeking legislative action within 6 months to include in 
the Airport Certification Program all airports served by air carriers 
that provide scheduled passenger service.
     Revising and expanding 14 CFR 135, following enactment of 
the legislative action described in Safety Recommendation A-94-203, to 
permit scheduled passenger operation only in airports certificated 
under the standards contained in Part 139, ``Certification and 
Operations: Land Airports Serving Certain Air Carriers.''
    The FAA requests that commenters be as specific as possible and 
provide as much detail in comments as necessary to facilitate 
regulatory decisionmaking. The format that would be most useful to the 
FAA is a subpart by subpart analysis of the impact of possible 
rulemaking. Cost information is also particularly useful.
    Because of the timeframe recommended by the NTSB, the FAA requests 
that commenters be timely in their response to this notice. The agency 
does not anticipate an extension of the comment period, so that 
regulatory changes may be proposed in a responsive timeframe.
    The FAA anticipates that comments provided in response to this 
notice will assist the agency in adopting or modifying the NTSB 
recommendations to establish a regulatory framework that will enhance 
safety in the commuter airline industry while not being overly 
burdensome on that industry.

    Issued in Washington, DC on November 30, 1994.
Anthony J. Broderick,
Associate Administrator for Regulation and Certification.
[FR Doc. 94-30005 Filed 12-1-94; 3:05 pm]
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