[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 92 (Thursday, May 12, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29609-29611]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-11104]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee--New Task
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of a new task assignment for the Aviation Rulemaking
Advisory Committee (ARAC).
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SUMMARY: The FAA has assigned the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory
Committee (ARAC) a new task to provide recommendations regarding the
certification of persons engaged in operations involving the loading of
special cargo. Assignment of this task is in response to National
Transportation Safety Board Recommendation A-15-014 which recommended
that the FAA create a certification for personnel responsible for the
loading, restraint, and documentation of special cargo loads on
transport-category airplanes. This notice informs the public of the new
ARAC activity and solicits membership for the new Loadmaster
Certification Working Group.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen Grota Cargo Focus Team, AFS-
340 Federal Aviation Administration, 950 L'Enfant Plaza SW., 5th Floor,
Washington, DC 20024, [email protected], phone number (781) 238-
7528.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
ARAC Acceptance of Task
As a result of its March 23, 2016, ARAC meeting, the ARAC accepted
this tasking to establish the Loadmaster Certification Working Group.
The Loadmaster Certification Working Group will serve as staff to the
ARAC and provide advice and recommendations on the assigned task. The
ARAC will review and accept the recommendation report and will submit
it to the FAA.
Background
The FAA established the ARAC to provide information, advice, and
recommendations on aviation related
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issues that could result in rulemaking to the FAA Administrator,
through the Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety.
On April 29, 2013, a Boeing 747-400 BCF operated by an air carrier
conducting all-cargo operations crashed shortly after takeoff from
Bagram Air Base, Bagram, Afghanistan. The airplane was destroyed from
impact forces and post-crash fire. The flight was a supplemental
operation conducted under part 121 of Title 14, Code of Federal
Regulations (14 CFR) and was being conducted under a multimodal
contract with the US Transportation Command. The intended destination
for the flight was Dubai World Central--Al Maktoum International
Airport, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The airplane's cargo included five mine-resistant ambush-protected
(MRAP) vehicles secured onto pallets with shoring. Two vehicles were
12-ton MRAP all-terrain vehicles (M-ATVs) and three were 18-ton
Cougars. These vehicles were considered special cargo because they
could not be placed in unit load devices (ULDs) and restrained in the
airplane using the locking capabilities of the airplane's main deck
cargo handling system. Instead, the vehicles were secured to
centerline-loaded floating pallets and restrained to the airplane's
main deck using tie-down straps. Special cargo is defined in appendix C
of AC 120-85A, Air Cargo Operations, as ``cargo not contained in a ULD
certified for the airplane cargo loading system (CLS) or not enclosed
in a cargo compartment certified for bulk loading. This type of cargo
requires special handling and securing/restraining procedures.''
During takeoff, the airplane immediately climbed steeply, then
descended in a manner consistent with an aerodynamic stall. The
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation found strong
evidence that at least one of the rear MRAP vehicles moved aft into the
tail section of the airplane, damaging hydraulic systems and horizontal
stabilizer components and making it impossible for the flightcrew to
maintain pitch control of the airplane. The NTSB determined that the
probable cause of this accident was the air carrier's inadequate
procedures for restraining special cargo loads, which resulted in the
loadmaster's improper restraint of the cargo, which moved aft and
damaged hydraulic systems numbers 1 and 2 and horizontal stabilizer
drive mechanism components, rendering the airplane uncontrollable (NTSB
Aircraft Accident Report NTSB/AAR-15/01 PB2015-104951).
As a result of this accident, the NTSB issued Safety Recommendation
A-15-14 which recommended, in part, that the FAA ``[c]reate a
certification for personnel responsible for the loading, restraint, and
documentation of special cargo loads on transport-category airplanes.''
Currently, there is no certificated position for the loading of special
cargo specified in the FAA's regulations. Therefore, there are no
specific individual standards or training requirements to ensure
adherence to operational limitations. Additionally, there is no
specific FAA oversight of these personnel outside of that normally
conducted of a certificate holder's operations. The FAA believes that
such oversight is especially critical when special cargo is carried in
an aircraft.
Persons performing special cargo loading functions typically
prepare and validate the accuracy of aircraft load manifests and ensure
the aircraft is loaded according to an approved schedule that ensures
the aircraft's center of gravity is within approved limits. Proper
performance of these functions is critical to ensure the flight
characteristics of an aircraft are not adversely affected and that its
structural limitations are not exceeded.
The Task
The Loadmaster Certification Working Group is tasked to:
1. Provide advice and recommendations to the ARAC on whether safety
would be enhanced if persons engaged in the loading and supervision of
the loading of special cargo, to include the preparation and accuracy
of special cargo load plans, be certificated. If the Working Group
recommends certification of these persons, it should also provide
recommendations regarding which specific operations should require the
use of these certificated persons. Additionally, it should also
recommend appropriate knowledge, experience, and skill requirements for
the issuance of the certificates and appropriate privileges and
limitations.
2. Determine the effect of its recommendations on impacted parties.
3. Develop a report containing recommendations based upon its
analysis and findings. The report should document both majority and
dissenting positions on its recommendations and findings and the
rationale for each position. Any disagreements should be documented,
including the rationale for each position and the reasons for the
disagreement.
In developing this report the Working Group shall familiarize
itself with:
1. NTSB Aircraft Accident Report NTSB/AAR-15/01 PB2015-104951NTSB,
with particular attention provided to Safety Recommendation A-15-14.
2. AC 120-85A, Air Cargo Operations.
3. Minutes of the June 30, 2015 B747 Special Cargo Load Meeting.
The working group may be reinstated to assist the ARAC by
responding to FAA's questions or concerns after its recommendations
have been submitted.
Schedule
The recommendation report should be submitted to the FAA for review
and acceptance no later than 24 months from the publication date of
this notice in the Federal Register.
Working Group Activity
The Loadmaster Certification Working Group must comply with the
procedures adopted by the ARAC and:
1. Conduct a review and analysis of the assigned tasks and any
other related materials or documents.
2. Draft and submit a work plan for completion of the task,
including the rationale supporting such a plan, for consideration by
the ARAC.
3. Provide a status report at each ARAC meeting.
4. Draft and submit the recommendation report based on the review
and analysis of the assigned tasks.
5. Present the recommendation report at the ARAC meeting.
Participation in the Working Group
The Loadmaster Certification Working Group will be comprised of
technical experts having an interest in the assigned task. A working
group member need not be a member representative of the ARAC. The FAA
would like a wide range of members to ensure all aspects of the tasks
are considered in development of the recommendations. The provisions of
the August 13, 2014, Office of Management and Budget guidance,
``Revised Guidance on Appointment of Lobbyists to Federal Advisory
Committees, Boards, and Commissions'' (79 FR 47482), continues the ban
on registered lobbyists participating on Agency Boards and Commissions
if participating in their ``individual capacity.'' The revised guidance
now allows registered lobbyists to participate on Agency Boards and
Commissions in a ``representative capacity'' for the ``express purpose
of providing a committee with the views of a nongovernmental entity, a
recognizable group of persons or nongovernmental entities (an industry,
sector, labor
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unions, or environmental groups, etc.) or state or local government''
(For further information, see the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA)
as amended, 2 U.S.C. 1603, 1604, and 1605).
If you wish to become a member of the Loadmaster Certification
Working Group, contact the person listed under the caption FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT expressing that desire. Describe your interest in
the task and state the expertise you would bring to the working group.
The FAA must receive all requests by June 13, 2016. The ARAC and the
FAA will review the requests and advise you whether or not your request
is approved.
If you are chosen for membership on the working group, you must
actively participate in the working group, attend all meetings, and
provide written comments when requested. You must devote the resources
necessary to support the working group in meeting any assigned
deadlines. You must keep your management and those you may represent
advised of working group activities and decisions to ensure the
proposed technical solutions do not conflict with the position of those
you represent. Once the working group has begun deliberations, members
will not be added or substituted without the approval of the ARAC
Chair, the FAA, including the Designated Federal Officer, and the
Working Group Chair.
The Secretary of Transportation determined the formation and use of
the ARAC is necessary and in the public interest in connection with the
performance of duties imposed on the FAA by law. The ARAC meetings are
open to the public. However, meetings of the Loadmaster Certification
Working Group are not open to the public, except to the extent
individuals with an interest and expertise are selected to participate.
The FAA will make no public announcement of working group meetings.
Issued in Washington, DC, on May 4, 2016.
Lirio Liu,
Designated Federal Officer, Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee.
[FR Doc. 2016-11104 Filed 5-11-16; 8:45 am]
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