[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 119 (Tuesday, June 22, 2010)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 35329-35330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-14925]
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NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD
49 CFR Part 830
Notification and Reporting of Aircraft Accidents or Incidents and
Overdue Aircraft, and Preservation of Aircraft Wreckage, Mail, Cargo,
and Records
AGENCY: National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
ACTION: Correcting amendments.
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SUMMARY: The NTSB is correcting a regulatory subsection that became
effective on March 8, 2010. The NTSB determined that a final rule which
requires reports of certain runway incursions, failed to specify that
on paragraph applies only to fixed-wing aircraft operating at public-
use airports on land. These amendments function to considerably narrow
the reporting requirement to include only the specific set of incidents
for which the NTSB seeks reports. In addition, the NTSB is correcting a
footnote because the NTSB no longer has a regional office in
Parsippany, New Jersey.
DATES: The correction is effective June 22, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) and the
final rule, published in the Federal Register (FR), are available for
inspection and copying in the NTSB's public reading room, located at
490 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20594-2000. Alternatively,
copies of the documents and comments that the NTSB received from the
public are available on the government-wide Web site on regulations at
http://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Deepak Joshi, Aerospace Engineer
(Structures), Office of Aviation Safety, (202) 314-6348.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Regulatory History
On October 7, 2008, the NTSB published an NPRM titled
``Notification and Reporting of Aircraft Accidents or Incidents and
Overdue Aircraft, and Preservation of Aircraft Wreckage, Mail, Cargo,
and Records'' in 73 FR 58520, and, on January 7, 2010, the NTSB
published a final rule under the same title in 75 FR 922. The final
rule codified the addition of five reportable incidents, including the
following requirement concerning the reporting of runway incursions:
``Any event in which an aircraft operated by an air carrier: (i) Lands
or departs on a taxiway, incorrect runway, or other area not designed
as a runway; or (ii) Experiences a runway incursion that requires the
operator or the crew of another aircraft or vehicle to take immediate
corrective action to avoid a collision.''
After the publication of this final rule, several organizations
advised the NTSB that the regulatory language may inadvertently require
that aircraft taking off or landing at sites outside an airport submit
a report each time they take off or land. Representatives of these
organizations were concerned that they would be required to report
every takeoff or landing of a helicopter that occurs on a ``taxiway''
or ``other area not designed as a runway.'' While the new rule
literally states this, the preamble of the NPRM stated that it is not
the NTSB's intent to be notified of normal taxiway and off-airport
rotorcraft takeoffs and landings (see 73 FR 58520).
The NTSB does not seek to require reports of off-airport or taxiway
takeoffs and landings that occur during normal helicopter operations,
including helicopter operations at heliports, helidecks, hospital
rooftops, highway berms, or any other area normally utilized to
transport patients, passengers, or crews. The NTSB also does not seek
to require reports of other off-airport or taxiway takeoffs and
landings that occur during normal operations, such as those involving
seaplanes, hot-air balloons, unmanned aircraft systems, and aircraft
designed specifically for takeoffs and landings that do not occur at
land airports. The NTSB's correction to its inadvertent error in
drafting overly broad regulatory language in 49 CFR 830.5(a)(12)
contains the requirement that the NTSB receive reports of the
following: ``Any event in which an operator, when operating an airplane
as an air carrier at a public-use airport on land: (i) Lands or departs
on a taxiway, incorrect runway, or other area not designed as a runway;
or (ii) Experiences a runway incursion that requires the operator or
the crew of another aircraft or vehicle to take immediate corrective
action to avoid a collision.''
In interpreting this subsection, the NTSB plans to use the
definition of ``airplane'' found in 14 CFR 1.1, which indicates that
``[a]irplane means an engine-driven fixed-wing aircraft heavier than
air, that is supported in flight by the dynamic reaction of the air
against its wings.'' Regarding the definition of ``public-use
airport,'' the NTSB plans to use the definition in 49 U.S.C. 47102(21),
which indicates that `` `public-use airport' means-- (A) a public
airport; or (B) a privately-owned airport used or intended to be used
for public purposes that is--(i) a reliever airport; or (ii) determined
by the Secretary to have at least 2,500 passenger boardings each year
and to receive scheduled passenger aircraft service.'' The NTSB
believes the qualification of ``on land'' of ``public-use airport'' is
self-explanatory; the NTSB does not seek reports of operations on
water.
This new language functions to narrow the reporting requirement.
Given that it does not impose any new requirements but instead narrows
the current requirement to include only reports of incidents in which
airplanes at public-use airports on land are involved in runway
incursions, the NTSB has concluded that it is legally permissible to
publish this correction to the rule rather than engage in a new
rulemaking procedure under the Administrative Procedure Act. The
corrected language is clearly a logical outgrowth of the language that
became effective on March 8, 2010, and applies to fewer scenarios than
the original language.
List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 830
Aircraft accidents, Aircraft incidents, Aviation safety, Overdue
aircraft notification and reporting, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
0
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the NTSB amends 49 CFR part
830 as follows:
[[Page 35330]]
PART 830--NOTIFICATION AND REPORTING OF AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS OR
INCIDENTS AND OVERDUE AIRCRAFT, AND PRESERVATION OF AIRCRAFT
WRECKAGE, MAIL, CARGO, AND RECORDS
0
1. The authority citation for part 830 continues to read as follows:
Authority: Independent Safety Board Act of 1974, as amended (49
U.S.C. 1101-1155); Federal Aviation Act of 1958, Public Law 85-726,
72 Stat. 731 (codified as amended at 49 U.S.C. 40101).
0
2. Amend Sec. 830.15 as follows:
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A. Republish the introductory text.
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B. Revise footnote 1 and paragraph (a)(12).
The revisions read as follows:
Sec. 830.5 Immediate notification.
The operator of any civil aircraft, or any public aircraft not
operated by the Armed Forces or an intelligence agency of the United
States, or any foreign aircraft shall immediately, and by the most
expeditious means available, notify the nearest National Transportation
Safety Board (NTSB) office \1\ when:
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\1\ NTSB regional offices are located in the following cities:
Anchorage, Alaska; Atlanta, Georgia; West Chicago, Illinois; Denver,
Colorado; Arlington, Texas; Gardena (Los Angeles), California;
Miami, Florida; Seattle, Washington; and Ashburn, Virginia. In
addition, NTSB headquarters is located at 490 L'Enfant Plaza, SW.,
Washington, DC 20594. Contact information for these offices is
available at http://www.ntsb.gov.
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(a) * * *
(12) Any event in which an operator, when operating an airplane as
an air carrier at a public-use airport on land:
(i) Lands or departs on a taxiway, incorrect runway, or other area
not designed as a runway; or
(ii) Experiences a runway incursion that requires the operator or
the crew of another aircraft or vehicle to take immediate corrective
action to avoid a collision.
* * * * *
Deborah A.P. Hersman,
Chairman.
[FR Doc. 2010-14925 Filed 6-21-10; 8:45 am]
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