[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 119 (Tuesday, June 22, 2010)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 35329-35330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-14925]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD

49 CFR Part 830


Notification and Reporting of Aircraft Accidents or Incidents and 
Overdue Aircraft, and Preservation of Aircraft Wreckage, Mail, Cargo, 
and Records

AGENCY: National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

ACTION: Correcting amendments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The NTSB is correcting a regulatory subsection that became 
effective on March 8, 2010. The NTSB determined that a final rule which 
requires reports of certain runway incursions, failed to specify that 
on paragraph applies only to fixed-wing aircraft operating at public-
use airports on land. These amendments function to considerably narrow 
the reporting requirement to include only the specific set of incidents 
for which the NTSB seeks reports. In addition, the NTSB is correcting a 
footnote because the NTSB no longer has a regional office in 
Parsippany, New Jersey.

DATES: The correction is effective June 22, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) and the 
final rule, published in the Federal Register (FR), are available for 
inspection and copying in the NTSB's public reading room, located at 
490 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20594-2000. Alternatively, 
copies of the documents and comments that the NTSB received from the 
public are available on the government-wide Web site on regulations at 
http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Deepak Joshi, Aerospace Engineer 
(Structures), Office of Aviation Safety, (202) 314-6348.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Regulatory History

    On October 7, 2008, the NTSB published an NPRM titled 
``Notification and Reporting of Aircraft Accidents or Incidents and 
Overdue Aircraft, and Preservation of Aircraft Wreckage, Mail, Cargo, 
and Records'' in 73 FR 58520, and, on January 7, 2010, the NTSB 
published a final rule under the same title in 75 FR 922. The final 
rule codified the addition of five reportable incidents, including the 
following requirement concerning the reporting of runway incursions: 
``Any event in which an aircraft operated by an air carrier: (i) Lands 
or departs on a taxiway, incorrect runway, or other area not designed 
as a runway; or (ii) Experiences a runway incursion that requires the 
operator or the crew of another aircraft or vehicle to take immediate 
corrective action to avoid a collision.''
    After the publication of this final rule, several organizations 
advised the NTSB that the regulatory language may inadvertently require 
that aircraft taking off or landing at sites outside an airport submit 
a report each time they take off or land. Representatives of these 
organizations were concerned that they would be required to report 
every takeoff or landing of a helicopter that occurs on a ``taxiway'' 
or ``other area not designed as a runway.'' While the new rule 
literally states this, the preamble of the NPRM stated that it is not 
the NTSB's intent to be notified of normal taxiway and off-airport 
rotorcraft takeoffs and landings (see 73 FR 58520).
    The NTSB does not seek to require reports of off-airport or taxiway 
takeoffs and landings that occur during normal helicopter operations, 
including helicopter operations at heliports, helidecks, hospital 
rooftops, highway berms, or any other area normally utilized to 
transport patients, passengers, or crews. The NTSB also does not seek 
to require reports of other off-airport or taxiway takeoffs and 
landings that occur during normal operations, such as those involving 
seaplanes, hot-air balloons, unmanned aircraft systems, and aircraft 
designed specifically for takeoffs and landings that do not occur at 
land airports. The NTSB's correction to its inadvertent error in 
drafting overly broad regulatory language in 49 CFR 830.5(a)(12) 
contains the requirement that the NTSB receive reports of the 
following: ``Any event in which an operator, when operating an airplane 
as an air carrier at a public-use airport on land: (i) Lands or departs 
on a taxiway, incorrect runway, or other area not designed as a runway; 
or (ii) Experiences a runway incursion that requires the operator or 
the crew of another aircraft or vehicle to take immediate corrective 
action to avoid a collision.''
    In interpreting this subsection, the NTSB plans to use the 
definition of ``airplane'' found in 14 CFR 1.1, which indicates that 
``[a]irplane means an engine-driven fixed-wing aircraft heavier than 
air, that is supported in flight by the dynamic reaction of the air 
against its wings.'' Regarding the definition of ``public-use 
airport,'' the NTSB plans to use the definition in 49 U.S.C. 47102(21), 
which indicates that `` `public-use airport' means-- (A) a public 
airport; or (B) a privately-owned airport used or intended to be used 
for public purposes that is--(i) a reliever airport; or (ii) determined 
by the Secretary to have at least 2,500 passenger boardings each year 
and to receive scheduled passenger aircraft service.'' The NTSB 
believes the qualification of ``on land'' of ``public-use airport'' is 
self-explanatory; the NTSB does not seek reports of operations on 
water.
    This new language functions to narrow the reporting requirement. 
Given that it does not impose any new requirements but instead narrows 
the current requirement to include only reports of incidents in which 
airplanes at public-use airports on land are involved in runway 
incursions, the NTSB has concluded that it is legally permissible to 
publish this correction to the rule rather than engage in a new 
rulemaking procedure under the Administrative Procedure Act. The 
corrected language is clearly a logical outgrowth of the language that 
became effective on March 8, 2010, and applies to fewer scenarios than 
the original language.

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 830

    Aircraft accidents, Aircraft incidents, Aviation safety, Overdue 
aircraft notification and reporting, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

0
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the NTSB amends 49 CFR part 
830 as follows:

[[Page 35330]]

PART 830--NOTIFICATION AND REPORTING OF AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS OR 
INCIDENTS AND OVERDUE AIRCRAFT, AND PRESERVATION OF AIRCRAFT 
WRECKAGE, MAIL, CARGO, AND RECORDS

0
1. The authority citation for part 830 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: Independent Safety Board Act of 1974, as amended (49 
U.S.C. 1101-1155); Federal Aviation Act of 1958, Public Law 85-726, 
72 Stat. 731 (codified as amended at 49 U.S.C. 40101).

0
2. Amend Sec.  830.15 as follows:
0
A. Republish the introductory text.
0
B. Revise footnote 1 and paragraph (a)(12).
    The revisions read as follows:


Sec.  830.5  Immediate notification.

    The operator of any civil aircraft, or any public aircraft not 
operated by the Armed Forces or an intelligence agency of the United 
States, or any foreign aircraft shall immediately, and by the most 
expeditious means available, notify the nearest National Transportation 
Safety Board (NTSB) office \1\ when:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ NTSB regional offices are located in the following cities: 
Anchorage, Alaska; Atlanta, Georgia; West Chicago, Illinois; Denver, 
Colorado; Arlington, Texas; Gardena (Los Angeles), California; 
Miami, Florida; Seattle, Washington; and Ashburn, Virginia. In 
addition, NTSB headquarters is located at 490 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., 
Washington, DC 20594. Contact information for these offices is 
available at http://www.ntsb.gov.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (a) * * *
    (12) Any event in which an operator, when operating an airplane as 
an air carrier at a public-use airport on land:
    (i) Lands or departs on a taxiway, incorrect runway, or other area 
not designed as a runway; or
    (ii) Experiences a runway incursion that requires the operator or 
the crew of another aircraft or vehicle to take immediate corrective 
action to avoid a collision.
* * * * *

Deborah A.P. Hersman,
Chairman.
[FR Doc. 2010-14925 Filed 6-21-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7533-01-P