Amends Notification Requirements To Apply To Fixed-Wing Only

The NTSB has taken action to correct 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 one paragraph (49 CFR 830.5(a)(12)) applies only to fixed-wing aircraft operating at public-use airports on land. The amendment considerably narrows the reporting requirement to include only the specific set of incidents for which the NTSB seeks reports.

After the publication of this final rule, several organizations pointed out to 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.

The NTSB says it 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.

Since the new language functions to narrow the reporting requirement, and 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 concludes 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.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov