Federal Aviation Administration November 3, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice contains a summary of a petition seeking relief from specified requirements of 14 CFR. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, this aspect of FAA's regulatory activities. Neither publication of this notice nor the inclusion or omission of information in the summary is intended to affect the legal status of the petition or its final disposition.

This action confirms the effective date of the direct final rule published on July 28, 2014, and responds to the comments received on that direct final rule. The rule permits the pilot in command of a helicopter air ambulance to assess the weather at a departure point where current weather observations are not available and allows the pilot to depart if the observed ceiling and visibility is greater than certain weather minimums. This action will allow a pilot to utilize the minimum takeoff visibilities depicted in a published obstacle departure procedure, or in the absence of such a procedure, when the pilot observed ceiling and visibility is greater than the minimum ceiling and visibility limitations required by specific helicopter air ambulance rules. This change to the current regulation will permit helicopter air ambulance flights to enter the National Airspace System (NAS) under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) when visibilities and ceilings are below Visual Flight Rules (VFR), thus increasing the safety of the flight.