Exemption 5549

[ftrdispatcher]

Is anybody out there familiar with this? How does a High Mins Captain get this exemption? If you have any info regarding this, I greatly appreciate it!!!

[Denny of Oakland]

There have been at least 7 Exemptions issued for 5549 and they are up to 5549F currently. I have attached a letter the FAA has sent out concerning exemption 5549.

5549F Docket No. Faa-2000-8434 To Permit A Pilot In Command (Pic) Conducting,Contd. Air Transport Association

This is in response to your November 26, 2002, letter petitioning the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on behalf of Air Transport Association of America, Inc. (ATA) for an extension of Exemption No. 5549, as amended. That exemption from § 121.652(a) and (c) of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) allows ATA member airlines and other similarly situated Part 121 operators to permit a pilot in command (PIC) conducting operations under Part 121 to perform an instrument approach procedure to the weather minima prescribed by this exemption during the first 100 hours of service as PIC, in the type of airplane he or she is operating, using an alternative means approved by the Administrator to satisfy the requirements of § 121.652(a) and (c).

In your petition, you indicate that the conditions and reasons regarding public interest and safety, presented in the original petition upon which the exemption was granted, remain unchanged.

The FAA has determined that good cause exists for not publishing a summary of the petition in the Federal Register because the requested extension of the exemption would not set a precedent, and any delay in acting on this petition would be detrimental to ATA.
The FAA has determined that the justification for the issuance of Exemption No. 5549, as amended, remains valid with respect to this exemption.

In consideration of the foregoing, I find that a grant of exemption is in the public interest. Therefore, pursuant to the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 40113 and 44701, delegated to me by the Administrator,

AFS-03-115
Exemption No. 5549, as amended, is hereby further amended by extending its January 31, 2003 termination date to January 31, 2005, unless sooner superseded or rescinded.
All other conditions and limitations of Exemption No. 5549, as amended, remain the same. This letter shall be attached to, and is a part of, Exemption No. 5549.

In an effort to allow the public to participate in tracking the FAA's rulemaking activities, we have transitioned to the Department of Transportation's Internet-accessible Docket Management System (DMS), located at DMS Web. This new system enables interested persons to submit, view, and download requests to the DMS in accordance with 14 CFR § 11.63. Future requests should be submitted through this system.

Hopes this helps.

[ftrdispatcher]

Denny,
Thank you very much for all that information. It provided alot of insight into the nature of this exemption. I must say FARs are just mind boggling. They say you can't do certain things but as you investigate further, there are ways in which you can.

I guess to put it into simple terms, a Part 121 carrier applies for this exemption, gets it, and then the pilots are able to do the basic CAT I approach and CAT II approaches.

What really gets me is that if you look at 61.67, there are many requirements that must be met before a pilot is authorized to operate CAT II approaches. Further, our company's OPSPECS say a PIC must meet the requirements of 121.652 before conducting CAT II ops.

I really don't know which is more difficult to comprehend....FARs or aviation weather. Thanks again!