Regulations & Qualifications

I fly small twin-engine airplanes providing up to 6 passengers with wonderful views out the windows and sizeable savings in travel time. Customers are able to accomplish in just part of a day what would have taken an entire extra-long workday or an overnight stay had they gone by car or scheduled airline flights. The usual flight cost, depending on which airplane, is $400 or $500 per flight hour for 200 air miles (a straight line) per hour so there are positive business justifications. Typical customers are company executives, managers, and other professionals. Some of the flights are for personal and family trips. Charter flights, also called on-demand air taxi operations, for people and freight are specifically subject to Federal Aviation Regulations Part 135 (14 CFR 135) along with other overall aviation regulations. Those regulations encompass all requirements for flight operations, equipment, maintenance, airports, crewmembers, training, and weather. The insurance business also has a large impact and regulatory effect on all segments of aviation. There is an old saw that goes “only when the weight of the paperwork equals or exceeds the weight of the aircraft is a flight allowed to occur”. It takes a pilot time and effort to acquire the necessary experience to qualify for charter flying. FAR 135.243c stipulates a commercial pilot certificate with instrument rating (as opposed to a private certificate) and 1200 hours of total flight time of which 500 must be on cross-country flights (to another airport), 100 must be during night darkness, and 75 must be controlling the aircraft using only instrument references (actually in clouds or using a device to prevent any view outside). It generally takes a real enthusiasm for flying and airplanes to reach that experience level. Pilots often revel in swapping stories with one another of their aviation experiences gaining both knowledge and enjoyment from the adventures of others. This Saturday morning, at the airport coffee table, one topic of conversation was a recent aircraft accident involving a highly experienced pilot on a personal flight. The speculation settled on “ran out of fuel” as the cause, however the official NTSB investigation is yet to come. I’ve read reliable reports that state 95% of aviation accidents are due to human error. Whatever the %, professional pilots realize our decisions and actions are the most important factor in safety. We know that decisions and actions in the next few minutes are more important to safe operations than any amount of previous flight hours recorded in our logbooks. Insurances rates provide evidence that air taxi flights are a safe means of transportation. But just like driving your car has more risk than setting at home in the recliner, flying accidents do occur. For each flight I strive to be a professional and to avoid complacency and over-confidence as those two pitfalls are at the root of many mishaps. Safety is my number one priority, sound judgment and situational readiness are the means to achieve safety.