[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]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-M