The U.S.FAA appears poised to adopt industry recommendations drafted last year that are aimed at reducing the cost and complexity associated with single-engine helicopters meeting IFR certification requirements under FAR Part 27. The industry views this as key to increasing the number of IFR operations and improving safety.
Led by the Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA), American Helicopter Society International (AHS), General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and Helicopter Association International (HAI), the rotorcraft industry had submitted a whitepaper to the FAA detailing proposed alternative means of compliance for meeting these standards.
Last month, FAA Rotorcraft Directorate manager Lance Gant wrote that the agency “has begun the process of adopting some of the concepts and recommendations of the whitepaper into a proposed Safety Continuum for Part 27 Systems and Equipment Policy Statement.” Gant noted that the proposed policy statement, which the FAA expects to release for public comment by December, will create “classes” of Part 27 rotorcraft up to 7,000 pounds mtow based on factorssuch as weight and passenger capacity.
“We are encouraged that the FAA not only appears to be supportive of the whitepaper, but is also adopting a much more tenable overall approach to leveraging advances in technology for safety and efficiency,” said AHS executive director Mike Hirschberg.