BECAUSE of the Covid crisis, the US Federal Aviation Administration (F) has granted exemptions from certain crew training, medical, and other requirements, reports Midland Park, New Jersey's Aviation International News.
'Based on the low failure rate, coupled with the additional mitigations imposed by the conditions and limitations of this exemption, the F finds that a grant of exemption would have no adverse impact on safety,' said the agency statement.
The F has provided a year-long extension for check airman observations, and is one of the latest extensions the agency has accorded as the Covid pandemic has dragged on.
With the check airman observation exemption, the agency has extended the timeframe for observations of check airmen from 24 months to 36 months for those due between January 2021 to December 2021. This extension came at the request of the National Air Transportation Association (NATA) with the strong support of the National Business Aviation Association (NB).
'In general, the F has granted only short-term relief based on Covid-19 to allow the agency the opportunity to continually assess the changing circumstances associated with the public health emergency and adapt as appropriate,' the agency said.
'With the positive news of several vaccines becoming broadly available in the coming months, the F does not find the Covid-19 public health emergency alone merits relief from check airman observations for the extended period of time requested by the petitioner.
'However, in the course of considering the petition and assessing the safety impact, the F finds there is justification to extend the timeframe for check airman observations from 24 to 36 month,' said the F.
The agency, which said the extension enables check airmen to perform critical tasks for 12 more months under certain conditions and limitations, cited a review of data on the last several years finding that during 9,700 check airman observations, check airmen performance was found unsatisfactory in less than 1 per cent of the time.
'Based on this low failure rate, coupled with the additional mitigations imposed by the conditions and limitations of this exemption, the F finds that a grant of exemption would have no adverse impact on safety.'
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'Based on the low failure rate, coupled with the additional mitigations imposed by the conditions and limitations of this exemption, the F finds that a grant of exemption would have no adverse impact on safety,' said the agency statement.
The F has provided a year-long extension for check airman observations, and is one of the latest extensions the agency has accorded as the Covid pandemic has dragged on.
With the check airman observation exemption, the agency has extended the timeframe for observations of check airmen from 24 months to 36 months for those due between January 2021 to December 2021. This extension came at the request of the National Air Transportation Association (NATA) with the strong support of the National Business Aviation Association (NB).
'In general, the F has granted only short-term relief based on Covid-19 to allow the agency the opportunity to continually assess the changing circumstances associated with the public health emergency and adapt as appropriate,' the agency said.
'With the positive news of several vaccines becoming broadly available in the coming months, the F does not find the Covid-19 public health emergency alone merits relief from check airman observations for the extended period of time requested by the petitioner.
'However, in the course of considering the petition and assessing the safety impact, the F finds there is justification to extend the timeframe for check airman observations from 24 to 36 month,' said the F.
The agency, which said the extension enables check airmen to perform critical tasks for 12 more months under certain conditions and limitations, cited a review of data on the last several years finding that during 9,700 check airman observations, check airmen performance was found unsatisfactory in less than 1 per cent of the time.
'Based on this low failure rate, coupled with the additional mitigations imposed by the conditions and limitations of this exemption, the F finds that a grant of exemption would have no adverse impact on safety.'
SeaNews Turkey