Action Follows Successful Public Aircraft Forum At Heli-Expo

The success of the Public Aircraft Forum at Helo-Expo 2012 in Dallas, Texas will result in the formation of an industry-government working group to address the changes the FAA is proposing to Advisory Circular (AC) 00-1.1 A on Public Aircraft.

The circular provides guidance on what is considered a “public aircraft,” as defined by 49 U.S.C. § 40102; the working group will provide additional guidance to the industry as to what meets the regulatory definition. The group will be comprised of industry stakeholders as well as officials from the NTSB, FAA and other government agencies.

According to the AC, whether an operation may be considered public is determined on a flight-by-flight basis, under the terms of the statute. The considerations when determining PAO are aircraft ownership, the operator, the purpose of the flight, and the persons on board the aircraft. Any operation that does not meet the statutory criteria for a PAO is a civil aircraft operation and must be conducted in accordance with all FAA regulations applicable to the operation. The public aircraft statute sets forth criteria to determine whether a government operation qualifies as a PAO.

The FAA is currently seeking comments on the draft circular, which are due on April 13, 2012. Comments can be mailed or faxed to the FAA, referencing docket number FAA-2012-0156.

FMI: www.rotor.com/rotornews/Feb12/PublicAircraftCircular.pdf