The line between public use and civil aviation operations is currently so blurred, especially for contract operators, that the time has come to bring all the stakeholders together as a working group to provide clarity on the issue.

That was the message HAI President Matt Zuccaro brought to the National Transportation Safety Board at its forum on public use aviation safety.

Public use missions are flown for the public good by government-owned or government-contracted aircraft. Some of the better-known public missions include law enforcement, aerial firefighting, search and rescue, and military.

For contract operators, especially, knowing which flights flown for a government agency come under FAA jurisdiction and which are public use and therefore outside of FAA oversight, is problematic. But Zuccaro told the Board members that types of missions that could not be accomplished under the FAA’s civil regulations are few. He suggested that stakeholders gathered into a working group should be able to narrowly define those missions and provide recommendations about when an operator needs to declare that a mission is public use and therefore beyond FAA oversight.

During testimony on another of the forum’s seven panels, HAI Chairman of the Board Mark Gibson reiterated that point, telling the board that many, if not most, of the operations that his company, Timberland Logging, flies for government agencies, could be flown under civil authorization.

By law, public use aviation missions are not considered part of civil aviation and therefore not under the purview of the Federal Aviation Administration or subject to most federal aviation regulations.

Under the FAA’s interpretation of the law, the government agency operating or contracting for a public use mission assumes the legal responsibility for the safe operation and maintenance of that aircraft. Yet time and again over the course of the two-day forum, agencies and contract operators alike said they operate within the federal aviation regulations with only a few exceptions, such as transporting hazardous materials or carrying Class D external loads.

Zuccaro told the Board members that he feels strongly about the need for a working group, and that if asked, would be willing to sponsor the group.