But No One Knows What That Rule Will Say

The Experimental Aircraft Association is not quite sure what to expect, after the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) completed its review last month of the FAA's long-awaited final rule on Air Tour Safety. The FAA will likely publish the final rule in the Federal Register sometime in the upcoming weeks... and we'll have to wait until then to see what the final decision is.

"We usually get some sort of an indication as to what a final rule will look like, but not this time," said EAA vice president for industry and regulatory events Earl Lawrence.

The aviation community almost universally opposed the FAA's Air Tour Safety NPRM when it was published in October 2003. As Aero-News reported, the FAA proposed in the original NPRM sweeping changes to commercial and noncommercial passenger-carrying operations that many contended are not justified by historic safety data and would not enhance safety.

The EAA also says the FAA failed to adequately evaluate and address the dramatic negative cost-benefit impact these proposals would have on the general aviation industry.

Several public hearings -- including the FAA’s first online meeting held in February 2004 -- demonstrated virtual unanimous opposition to the proposals from the aviation community. In EAA’s official comments, submitted on March 11, 2004, it contended that FAA’s proposed regulations were "a blanket measure that did not distinguish between various operations or aircraft."

For example, the proposal treated large commercial air tour operators the same as private, one-aircraft operations... such as a person who operates a two-place, open-cockpit aircraft for local sightseeing flights.

"As written, FAA went much farther than the original Congressional mandate requested," said Lawrence. "It would destroy many areas of general aviation that have been created strictly for historic or demonstration purposes."

EAA and other aviation organizations offered many simple, common sense recommendations that would meet the Congressional mandate, enhance safety and preserve the ability for many small businesses to continue to operate. FAA took the comments received from the community and rewrote the rule... but what that rule says may not be known for weeks.

Did anyone else just get a chill down their spine?

FMI: www.eaa.org, www.faa.gov