Purpose and safety intent
- The circular is issued in the interest of flight safety.
- The circular aims to reduce risk during flights of helicopters over water by imposing operational and passenger-safety requirements.
Prohibited flight condition over water
- Helicopters without emergency floatation gear are no longer allowed to fly over bodies of water.
- The prohibition applies when the water is beyond the power-off gliding distance from the shoreline.
- The prohibition becomes effective after fifteen (15) days from date hereof.
Pilot operational requirement on flotation gear
- Pilots must set the emergency floatation gear to “arm” only when there is the possibility of immediate usage.
- Pilots must exercise extra caution to prevent accidental actuation of the emergency floatation gear.
- The circular specifically targets accidental actuation concerns especially at low level flight and at airspeed above 70 MPH.
Passenger lifevest requirement and briefing
- Pilots are required to ensure that each passenger is given a lifevest.
- Pilots must ensure that each passenger is properly briefed before each flight.
- The briefing must cover the lifevest’s proper use and evacuation procedure.
- The briefing and lifevest requirements apply to each flight planned to fly over bodies of water.
Compliance and enforcement posture
- The circular mandates strict adherence to the prohibition on prohibited over-water flights without emergency floatation gear.
- The circular enjoins strict observance of the flotation gear arming rule, the accidental-actuation prevention precautions, and the passenger lifevest and briefing requirements.