Oct. 23 — An FAA notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM, Federal Register docket number 4521) published this week will likely shrink the pool of pilots able to help local charities with fundraising flights and, by the FAA's own admission, will drive hundreds of small sightseeing operations out of the business. The proposal would raise the minimum number of hours required for pilots conducting charity fundraising flights from 200 to 500 and remove an exemption that allows Part 91 sightseeing flights within 25 nm of an airport. Operators conducting flights under this exception will now be subject to the operational requirements of Part 135.

This group will be a forum so that ride operators can work together to fight this rule and formulate comments on the rule before it is published.