October 15, 2009
Docket Operations, M–30U.S.
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave, SE, Room W12–140
West Building Ground Floor
Washington, D.C. 20590–0001
RE: Docket Number FAA–2009–0837, Proposed Modification of the New York, NY, Class B Airspace Area; and Proposed Establishment of the New York Class B Airspace Hudson River and East River Exclusion Special Flight Rules Area
The National Air Transportation Association (NATA), the voice of aviation business, is the public policy group representing the interests of aviation businesses before the Congress, federal agencies and state governments. NATA’s over 2,000 member companies own, operate and service aircraft and provide for the needs of the traveling public by offering services and products to aircraft operators and others such as fuel sales, aircraft maintenance, parts sales, storage, rental, airline servicing, flight training, Part 135 on-demand air charter, fractional aircraft program management and scheduled commuter operations in smaller aircraft. NATA members are a vital link in the aviation industry providing services to the general public, airlines, general aviation and the military.
On August 8, 2009, our nation was stunned and horrified by the images of a mid-air collision between a light aircraft and a helicopter over the Hudson River. This tragic accident resulted in the deaths of the nine individuals in the involved aircraft. Within hours of this event, the National Transportation Safety Board, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the general aviation industry itself, began to assess what went wrong and what could be done to prevent this kind of tragedy in the future. Within a week, the FAA had convened a workgroup composed of air traffic and safety experts and had tasked them with proposing changes to the Hudson River Class B airspace Exclusion and surrounding Class B airspace that would enhance the safety of operations. The workgroup announced its proposals within a month, and soon after the FAA issued the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Proposed Modification of the New York, NY, Class B Airspace Area; and Proposed Establishment of the New York Class B Airspace Hudson River and East River Exclusion Special Flight Rules Area (hereafter referred to as the NPRM). NATA appreciates the opportunity to provide comments on the NPRM.
The FAA workgroup was faced with the challenge of modifying an already safe operational area, (NATA could not find any other cases of mid-air collisions in the Hudson River Class B airspace Exclusion in the past 30 years) and make it safer. The NPRM attempts to meet this challenge by creating a Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA) in the New York Class B airspace and the Hudson River and East River
Class B airspace Exclusions. This SFRA will make mandatory many of the currently voluntary operational practices, including:
- Indicated airspeed not to exceed 140kts
- Turn on all anti-collision, position/navigation and/or landing lights
- Self announce position on the appropriate radio frequency for the East River or Hudson River as depicted on the New York VFR Terminal Area Chart and/or New York Helicopter Route Chart
In addition to creating the SFRA, the NPRM modifies the NY airspace to provide for a uniform floor for the Class B airspace above the exclusion zones.
Accidents like the one that occurred on August 9 can lead to calls for restrictions on general aviation aircraft access to metropolitan airspace. NATA would like to applaud the FAA for developing solutions that, while enhancing safety, do not restrict access to the area by general aviation visual flight rule pilots. NATA believes that the proposals contained in the NPRM are appropriate and, when combined with the various other non-rulemaking solutions that the FAA is implementing, will enhance the safety of operations in the affected airspace.
Respectfully,
Michael E. France
Manager, Regulatory Affairs
National Air Transportation Association