Within 6 Months
March 18, 2015
Fuel Tank Lightning Protection
Newly certified Part 25 airplanes are the subject of an FAA proposal and draft advisory circular to upgrade lightning protection standards for fuel tanks and related systems. This proposal would establish design and maintenance requirements to prevent fires and explosions from lightning strikes. The requirements would apply to type certification of new or significantly modified transport-category airplanes, as well as to applicants for STCs dealing with modifications to fuel tank structures and systems. Comments are due March 18. The FAA identified only four instances of fire and/or explosions of fuel tanks from suspected lightning strikes since 1959, with the last one occurring in 1976.
April 20, 2015
EASA Proposal Sets Stage for Performance-based Navigation Ops
A proposal from the European Aviation Safety Agency aims to extend performance-based navigation (PBN) procedures beyond the 24 EU airports required by the Pilot Common Project Regulation and mitigate risks associated with non-harmonized application. The proposal addresses the safety, interoperability, proportionality and coordination issues related to the implementation of PBN within European airspace. The amendments would require ATC and airport operators by December 2018 to implement PBN SIDs, Stars and routes; and by January 2024, implement PBN approach procedures with vertical guidance for all runways where there are currently only non-precision approaches. Aircraft operators wishing to use these routes and procedures will be required to ensure that their aircraft and pilots are approved for PBN operations. Comments are due by April 20, 2015.
April 22, 2015
Corrections to New Helicopter Operating Rules
On Feb. 21, 2014, the FAA published a final rule upgrading helicopter private, commercial and air ambulance operations, effective April 22, 2015. The FAA has corrected Part 91.155 and removed duplicative flight visibility requirements for operations in Class G airspace. Also, the agency fixed Part 135.609 to delineate VFR and IFR operations. Finally, the agency corrected Part 135.621(b) by clarifying the intended list of topics that must be included in the certificate holder’s FAA-approved medical personnel training program.
April 23, 2015
Approvals Required for Extended Ops in WATRS Airspace
Revised OpSpec/MSpec/LOA B045, Extended Overwater Operations Using a Single Long-Range Communication System, will require certain operators to obtain a new approval by April 23, 2015. The approval applies to all operators using a single long-range com system in the West Atlantic Route System, Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico. The current template for B045 is combined for Parts 121, 125 and 135, causing “confusion with respect to operational control organizations,” the agency said. “The new templates are tailored to the operational control organization and communication requirements of each part.”
Within 12 Months
Dec. 1, 2015 and Jan. 1, 2017
European Union Tcas Version 7.1 Directive
Turbine aircraft that are approved to carry 19 passengers, certified before April 1 last year and equipped with Tcas II version 7.0 must be upgraded to the latest version of 7.1 traffic alert and collision avoidance system software by Dec. 1, 2015. ICAO does not require that version 7.1 software be installed for international flights as a retrofit until Jan. 1, 2017. All other applicable airplanes were required to have 7.1 Tcas II software installed by April 1 last year.
Dec. 31, 2015
Deadline To Meet Stage 3 Noise Levels
Ten months remain to the Dec. 31, 2015 deadline after which jets up to an mtow of 75,000 pounds may no longer operate in the contiguous U.S. unless they comply with Stage 3 noise limits. When the rule was published on July 2, 2013, the FAA said the mandate affected 457 registered owners of 599 principally Stage 2 business jets, though several models can now be, or will be able to be, hushkitted or re-engined to meet Stage 3 before the deadline. Of the 17 models affected by this ban, hushkits are currently available for at least seven: the Dassault Falcon 20; Learjet 23, 24 and 25; Sabreliner 80; and Gulfstream II and III.
Beyond 12 Months
Apr. 22, 2016
Helicopter Ambulance Control Centers
New FAR Part 135.619 requires operators with 10 or more helicopter air ambulances to have operations control centers beginning April 22, 2016. Operational control specialists must undergo an FAA-approved initial training program and pass a knowledge and practical test. The operations control center must at a minimum maintain two-way communications with pilots, provide pilots with weather briefings, monitor the progress of the flight and participate in the preflight risk analysis required under recently revised Part 135.617.
June 8, 2016 and June 7, 2020
Europe Delays ADS-B out Mandate
The earliest ADS-B out requirement in Europe was Jan. 8, 2015, for new aircraft, with retrofit installations due Dec. 7, 2017. The new dates are June 8, 2016, for new aircraft and June 7, 2020, for retrofit. The revised date for retrofits is more closely aligned with the U.S. ADS-B out mandate, which requires the equipment to be operational in aircraft that fly under IFR and where transponders are currently required starting Jan. 1, 2020.
Jan. 1, 2020 U.S. Installation Deadline for ADS-B out Avionics
A final FAA rule to require installation of ADS-B out equipment by 2020 for aircraft flying in Class A, B and C airspace gives the green light for manufacturers to begin building the onboard equipment that will allow air traffic controllers to know where aircraft are with greater precision and reliability than current ATC radar. Business and general aviation associations are concerned that general aviation operators might be subjected to unacceptable financial costs as well as technological difficulties of the equipage mandated and the time crunch in meeting the installation deadline.
