Within Six Months

Oct. 14, 2014

NTSB Proposes Changes to Investigation Procedures

The Transportation Safety Board issued a notice of proposed rulemaking seeking comments by October 14 on proposed changes to rules governing its accident investigation procedures. In the NPRM, the Safety Board proposes reorganizing its investigation procedures into mode-specific subparts to make the rules easier to access and consult. In addition, the NTSB proposes to allow party participants to share information with supervisors for the purpose of improving safety without prior permission from the NTSB. The Safety Board also proposes including more detailed information concerning its role in foreign aviation investigations.

Oct. 14, 2014

OSHA Intends To Revise Reporting Requirements

OSHA published a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking to amend the agency’s regulation on the annual injury and illness reporting requirements to add three new electronic reporting obligations. Comments are due October 14. At a public meeting, many stakeholders expressed concern that the proposal could motivate employers to under-record their employees’ injuries and illnesses. To protect the integrity of the injury and illness data, OSHA is considering adding provisions that will make it a violation for an employer to discourage employee reporting in these ways.

Oct. 17, 2014

EASA Moves To Permit Night/IMC Commercial SEIFR Ops

The EASA issued a long-awaited notice of proposed amendment (NPA) that would allow single-engine turboprops to fly commercial operations at night and in IMC throughout Europe. A few member states already allow some of their operators to conduct turboprop commercial single-engine IFR (SEIFR) flights under an exemption from EU-OPS rules, creating an “uneven playing field,” the EASA said. The NPA seeks to remedy this imbalance by allowing commercial SEIFR turboprop operations throughout Europe via “cost-efficient rules that mitigate the risks linked to an engine failure to a level comparable with similar operations with twin-turbine airplanes.” The move would also harmonize EASA regulations with those of other major foreign aviation authorities. Comments are due by October 17.

Nov. 10, 2014

Amended Repair Station Regulations Enacted

The FAA has issued amended FAR Part 145 repair station regulations that allow the agency to deny an application for a new repair station certificate if the applicant or certain associated key individuals had materially contributed to the circumstances that caused a previous repair station certificate revocation action. The rule also adds a new section prohibiting fraudulent or intentionally false entries or omissions of material facts in any application, record or report made under the repair station rules. Also, the new rule requires that a company obtain the agency’s permission when it wants to cease operating as a repair station.

Nov. 13, 2014

Fuel Tank Vent Fire Protection NPRM

Comments are due November 13 on an NPRM that would amend Part 25 airworthiness requirements for certain transport-category airplanes to require fuel tank designs that prevent a tank explosion caused by flame propagation through the tank vents from external fires. For Part 91, 91K and 135 operations, this requirement would apply only to business jet airliners with a maximum payload of at least 7,500 pounds.

Nov. 25, 2014

Charter Ops Included in European Rules

All non-European Union-registered commercial operators, including U.S. Part 135 charters, have until November 25 to apply for a third-country operator (TCO) authorization, a new EU air safety requirement to fly to, from or within the EU. The TCO authorization requirement also applies to EU overseas territories such as Anguilla, Aruba, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, St. Maarten, and Turks and Caicos. Each operator must complete an online application form on the EASA website, and then upload copies of its air operator certificate, operations specifications, certificate of incorporation or similar documentation, along with the airworthiness certificates of aircraft that will be flown into EU airspace. The EASA will confirm the operator’s eligibility for the TCO authorization, and then provide log-in credentials to a dedicated TCO website, which will be the primary method of communication between the operator and the EASA during the approval process.

Feb. 5, 2015

North Atlantic Datalink Equipment Mandated

Last December the FAA published a notam detailing plans for the rollout of Phase 2 of the North Atlantic datalink mandate. The notam was published in the Dec. 12, 2013 edition of Notices to Airmen, Domestic/International, Part 3, Section 2 (International Oceanic Airspace Notices). Implementation is scheduled to begin with Phase 2A on Feb. 5, 2015, at which time flights within the North Atlantic Tracks (NAT) between FL350 and FL390 must be equipped with Fans 1/A controller-pilot datalink communications and ADS-C systems. The program expands to these altitudes in the entire ICAO NAT region on Dec. 7, 2017 with Phase 2B, and to all flights in this region above FL290 on Jan. 30, 2020 with Phase 2C. During these stages, any aircraft not equipped with Fans 1/A (or equivalent) systems may request to climb or descend through NAT DataLink Mandate (DLM) airspace.

Beyond Six Months

Apr. 1, 2015

UK Business Aircraft Passengers Subject to Tax Increase

Business aircraft passengers flying out of UK airports are facing rate increases of the air passenger duty (APD) tax of between 50 and 58 percent. Beginning April 1, 2015, the new rate of £426 ($690) will apply to aircraft weighing more than 20 metric tons (44,091 pounds) and with fewer than 19 seats on flights of more than 2,000 miles. For flights shorter than 2,000 miles, the rate will be £78 ($126). However, under wider changes that have seen the number of APD rate bands reduced to just two, charges for flights longer than 6,000 miles will be lower.