509 

Federal Aviation Administration, DOT 

§ 135.609 

(ii) [Reserved] 
(2) RTCA, Inc., 1150 18th Street NW., 

Suite 910, Washington, DC 20036, tele-
phone (202) 833–9339, and are also avail-
able on RTCA’s Web site at 

http:// 

www.rtca.org/onlinecart/index.cfm. 

(i) RTCA DO–309, Minimum Oper-

ational Performance Standards 
(MOPS) for Helicopter Terrain Aware-
ness and Warning System (HTAWS) 
Airborne Equipment, Mar. 13, 2008. 

(ii) [Reserved] 

§ 135.607

Flight Data Monitoring Sys-

tem. 

After April 23, 2018, no person may 

operate a helicopter in air ambulance 
operations unless it is equipped with an 
approved flight data monitoring sys-

tem capable of recording flight per-
formance data. This system must: 

(a) Receive electrical power from the 

bus that provides the maximum reli-
ability for operation without jeopard-
izing service to essential or emergency 
loads, and 

(b) Be operated from the application 

of electrical power before takeoff until 
the removal of electrical power after 
termination of flight. 

§ 135.609

VFR ceiling and visibility re-

quirements for Class G airspace. 

(a) Unless otherwise specified in the 

certificate holder’s operations speci-
fications, when conducting VFR heli-
copter air ambulance operations in 
Class G airspace, the weather mini-
mums in the following table apply: 

(b) A certificate holder may des-

ignate local flying areas in a manner 
acceptable to the Administrator, that 
must— 

(1) Not exceed 50 nautical miles in 

any direction from each designated lo-
cation; 

(2) Take into account obstacles and 

terrain features that are easily identi-
fiable by the pilot in command and 
from which the pilot in command may 
visually determine a position; and 

(3) Take into account the operating 

environment and capabilities of the 
certificate holder’s helicopters. 

(c) A pilot must demonstrate a level 

of familiarity with the local flying 
area by passing an examination given 
by the certificate holder within the 12 
calendar months prior to using the 
local flying area. 

[Doc. No. FAA–2010–0982, 79 FR 9975, Feb. 21, 
2014; Amdt. 135–129A, 79 FR 41126, July 15, 
2014] 

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