Section 4. Other Flight Requests
5-4-1. REQUESTS
FOR DEVIATION FROM TRANSPONDER REQUIREMENTS
a. Operations
at and above 10,000 feet MSL and below the floor of Class A airspace.
1. Facility
air traffic managers or their designated representative may approve or
disapprove preflight requests for ATC authorization to deviate from
transponder requirements. When coordination requirements are beyond
the interphone capability of a terminal facility, the appropriate
ARTCC must assume the interfacility coordination task.
2. Pilots/operators
may be required to comply with reasonable conditions as necessary to
maintain an acceptable level of safety. Such conditions may include:
(a) Filing
a flight plan.
(b) Maintaining
radio contact with ATC.
(c) Notifying
ATC prior to entering the affected airspace.
3. Information
regarding approved VFR operations in noncompliance with Mode C
transponder requirements must be forwarded to all affected facilities.
Facilities must ensure that the information is available at the proper
control positions.
4. LOA
between facilities and operators or individuals may be established
pending the installation of appropriate transponder equipment.
Deviations should not be approved for more than 6 months but
additional 6-month agreements may be established when required by
unusual operational circumstances.
5. Facility
air traffic managers must ensure that the local FSDO is provided with
sufficient information to permit follow-up on operators who create an
unnecessary burden on the ATC system by continually attempting such
operations without reasonable effort to install the appropriate
equipment.
b. Operations
within a Mode C veil and within and above Class C airspace up to
10,000 feet MSL.
NOTE-
A Mode C veil is that airspace within a 30 NM radius of a Class B
airspace primary airport from the surface to 10,000 feet MSL excluding
the Class B airspace itself.
1. Approvals
to deviate from the Mode C requirement by operators of aircraft
without transponders must be issued by the facility air traffic
manager or his/her designee.
2. Authorizations
may be issued for a single event or on a continuing basis.
(a) Single-event
authorizations may be issued verbally or in a letter to the proponent.
(b) Long
term authorizations must be issued in writing by the appropriate
facility air traffic manager or his/her designee. In cases involving
another facility's airspace or fringe airports, the authorization
should be incorporated into a LOA. Multi-signature LOAs should be used
in situations involving two or more individual operators.
3. The
following are examples of operations for which authorizations may be
issued:
(a) Aircraft
with insufficient panel space or electrical system capacity to
accommodate a Mode C transponder (e.g., antique aircraft; agricultural
aircraft).
(b) Ferrying
aircraft.
(c) Operations
for the purposes of installing or repairing an aircraft's transponder,
or other maintenance/service.
(d) Operations
conducted in facility defined areas of nonradar coverage.
(e) Operations
conducted by aircraft based at a fringe airport must be limited to
those that:
NOTE-
A fringe airport is an airport that is approximately 25 NM or farther
from Class B airspace primary airport and is not served by a scheduled
air carrier; or an airport outside the Mode C veil at which aircraft
operations in the traffic pattern routinely enter the Mode C veil.
(1) Will
not adversely impact other operations receiving radar service in the
area.
(2) Are
restricted to altitudes below 2,500 feet AGL.
(3) Are
not coincidental with controlled traffic flows within the terminal
area.
(4) Are conducted in the airport traffic
pattern and via the most direct routing out of the Mode C veil,
consistent with existing traffic and noise abatement procedures.
(f) National
defense operations or other operations in the public interest which
can be accommodated safely and would not adversely impact the
efficient movement of traffic.
4. Written
authorizations must specify an effective and expiration date/time, a
description of any area(s) and altitude(s) to which the authorization
is limited, and any advance call up or other communications
requirements deemed appropriate.
5. Facilities
must limit each authorization to the airspace for which it is
responsible by having the aircraft enter/exit the affected airspace
through its delegated airspace. However, to provide expeditious
responses to requests, facility managers may consider other methods
for processing authorization requests and incorporate such methods in
letters of agreement with those ATC facilities that control traffic
within the affected airspace.
5-4-2. CROP
DUSTER/ANTIQUE AIRCRAFT
Handle requests
by pilots of these aircraft to operate into airports having U.S.
Government operated control towers as follows:
a. If
the pilot is unable to contact the tower where the authorization is
needed via local telephone, he/she may relay the request through the
nearest FSS or the tower if there is no collocated FSS. The request
must include:
1. The
aircraft identification.
2. The
aircraft type.
3. The
pilot's name.
4. The
departure point.
5. The
destination airport.
6. The
proposed date and the time of arrival.
b. The
facility relaying the request must:
1. Inform
the pilot that approval will be invalid if the aircraft does not
arrive within 30 minutes before or after the proposed arrival time.
2. Inform
the destination airport tower via Service B or Service F circuit. On
Service B, the text must begin “NORDO CROP DUSTER LNDG AUZN REQ.”
c. The
destination tower must transmit an approval or a disapproval to the
originating facility for delivery to the pilot. This
approval/disapproval must include consideration of local airport
management rules, anticipated traffic, and other influencing factors.
As appropriate, it must include special instructions, reason for
disapproval, or a suggested alternative arrival time.
5-4-3. FLIGHT
TEST OPERATIONS
14 CFR Part 91
requires that flight test operations be conducted only over open water
or sparsely populated areas having a light volume of air traffic. FAA
personnel are sometimes asked to assist aircraft operators in
selecting areas where it is likely that only a few aircraft will be
operating. When such requests are received, FAA personnel must
cooperate in every reasonable way. In Class A airspace, aircraft may
be cleared on an individual basis to areas having a light volume of
air traffic, or they may be required to operate within special
operating areas established for flight test activity.
5-4-4. SANCTIONED SPEED RECORDS
The National
Aeronautic Association (NAA) sanctions all speed record attempts
before they are made and certifies them on completion. The FAA has
agreed to participate in this program by obtaining the certifying
start and finish time. Remunerations must not be accepted for services
rendered in support of this program.
5-4-5. CERTIFYING RECORD ATTEMPTS
FAA tower
specialists must act as NAA officials for certifying record attempts
by commercial aircraft provided that the following conditions are met:
a. Departure
Point: Before takeoff, a representative of the airline must submit the
NAA Certificate of Start form to the tower specialist and make
arrangements with him/her to give and time the signal to the pilot to
start the takeoff roll.
b. Arrival
Point: A representative of the airline must notify the tower
controller at the terminating airport as far in advance as possible
that a record attempt is to be made so that he/she will be alerted to
time the moment of touchdown. The airline representative must also
submit the Certificate of Finish form to the tower controller for
certification of the time of touchdown. The participating airline is
responsible for collecting and forwarding all NAA forms certified by
FAA tower specialists.
5-4-6. PHOTOGRAMMETRIC FLIGHTS
a. Except
for rare instances, photogrammetric missions must be conducted on
“clear days,” in VFR flight conditions, and usually when the sun angle
is high. Accordingly, infrequent IFR flight plan filing can be
anticipated.
b. Most
missions will involve a series of overlapping photographic exposures,
although some missions may involve only a single exposure. In any
case, the aircraft must necessarily move precisely along a
predetermined course/s at a predetermined altitude. This part of the
mission is called the flight line.
c. Facility
management personnel must be guided by the following when handling
photogrammetric flights.
1. Facilities
are expected to make every reasonable effort to accommodate
photogrammetric missions, but judgment must be exercised to minimize
overall system impact.
2. When
contacted by the pilot in advance, the controlling facility is
required to secure a complete understanding of the operation to be
conducted. In this regard, it must be anticipated that the operation
may be delayed due to weather (this possibility should be covered in
the preflight planning). Since the flight could be delayed not only
for hours but in some cases for days, facility personnel must be
adequately briefed to cope with such situations on a spontaneous
basis.
3. When
the pilot commences a flight line (the actual photographic run), every
reasonable effort should be made to permit the flight to continue
uninterrupted; i.e., without change in course or altitude. Should it
become necessary to break the aircraft off the flight line, it should
be vectored or cleared back into position for another run as soon as
possible.
NOTE-
The Management Association for Private Photogrammetric Surveyors (MAPPS)
speaks for the photogrammetric flight industry (www.mapps.org). FAA
officials have emphasized the following points to MAPPS:
a. The pilot is expected to make every effort to
contact the appropriate ATC facility prior to the mission to explain
flight requirements and to avoid “no notice” air/ground telephone
requests whenever possible.
b. That firm “hard and fast” approvals cannot be
guaranteed due to the rapid changes which can occur in the ATC
operational situation, but every reasonable effort will be made by ATC
to accommodate pilot requests.
c. The pilot is expected to say “This is a photo survey
mission” when contacting the ATC facility via air/ground
communications and subsequently to inform the controller when the
flight line is commenced.
5-4-7. AEROBATIC PRACTICE AREAS
Air traffic
managers may approve requests to conduct aerobatic practice activity
within Class B, C, D, or E airspace, provided the following
requirements have been satisfied:
a. The
operations are conducted in accordance with a waiver issued by the
appropriate FSDO to the aircraft operator for all applicable Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR).
b. The
operation must not adversely affect the safety of the air traffic
operation or result in a reduction of service to other users.
c. The
facility manager must evaluate the impact on air traffic controller
workload and the service requirements of the airspace where the
operation will be conducted before authorizing these operations.
d. A
facility directive must be prepared describing the procedures for
managing these operations. The directive must contain, as a minimum,
the controller and aircraft operator responsibilities, and a diagram
that depicts the geographical area in which the activity will take
place.
NOTE-
1. The air traffic manager's approval to conduct these
operations is not a waiver to the CFR. The issuance of waivers to
applicable part/section of the CFR is the responsibility of the FSDO.
2. The
Class of airspace the operation is conducted in determines what air
traffic approval, if any, is required.
REFERENCE-
14 CFR Section 91.303, Aerobatic flight. |
