Federal Aviation Administration March 9, 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FAA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval to renew an information collection. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on October 14, 2020. The collection involves the requirement for Helicopter Air Ambulance Operators to report certain information to the FAA. The FAA collects 14 pieces of data from helicopter air ambulance operators, 8 of which are mandated in the report to Congress. We collect data on the following: Number of helicopters, helicopter base locations, number of hours the helicopters are flown, number of patients transported, number of transportation requests accepted or denied, number of accidents, number of instrument flight hours flown, number of night flight hours flown, number of incidents, and the rate of accidents or incidents per 100,000 flight hours. The information to be collected will be used in helping the FAA develop risk mitigation strategies and provide information to Congress.

The FAA inadvertently published the same final action twice, on February 23, 2021, and again on March 1, 2021. FAA is withdrawing the second, duplicate publication.

The FAA is withdrawing a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that proposed to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) that would have applied to certain Bell Helicopter Textron Canada Model 206A, 206B, and 206B3 helicopters. The NPRM was prompted by the need for corresponding operating limitations prohibiting flight, including hover, with the litter doorpost removed when certain litter kits are installed. The NPRM would have required revising the Operating Limitations, Section 1, of the existing Rotorcraft Flight Manual (RFM) for your helicopter to add an operating limitation when a litter kit is installed to prohibit flight with the doorpost removed to prevent loss of structural integrity of the fuselage. Since issuance of the NPRM, the FAA has determined that an unsafe condition no longer exists. Accordingly, the NPRM is withdrawn.

This action corrects the final rule published in the Federal Register on January 21, 2021, amending the Class D and Class E airspace and revoking the Class E airspace designated as an extension to Class D and Class E surface areas at Muskegon County Airport, Muskegon, MI. The word ``Airport'' was inadvertently omitted from the Class E surface area airspace legal description for Muskegon County Airport.