Since When Has That Stopped Bureaucracy?

While acknowledging the necessity for the US government to secure its international borders, the Experimental Aircraft Association strongly disagrees with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plan to accomplish it with regards to general aviation.

As ANN reported, in September DHS proposed requiring operators of private aircraft entering or exiting the US to submit via the Internet detailed information, such as passenger manifests, at least one hour prior to crossing the US border.

On Tuesday, EAA submitted comments to the DHS notice of proposed rulemaking, Advance Information on Private Aircraft Arriving and Departing the United States (Docket No. USCBP-2007-0064), citing significant safety, operational, procedural and legal issues that need addressing before the proposed program can be implemented.

EAA contends the reporting requirements in the Congressionally mandated rulemaking proposal are impossible to satisfy. The requirement for passenger manifests, in particular, strikes EAA as "unworkable" -- as most foreign GA landing facilities lack the necessary Internet, cellular, or international phone line capabilities.

"Our major point is electronic submission is unworkable and we really want a single point of contact for the pilot to be able to, by way of FAA, deal with the requirements," said Doug Macnair, EAA vice president of government relations. "Pilots should not have to contact a separate government agency from a remote location in a foreign country simply to try to get permission to come back to their homeland. This needs to be part of the flight planning process."

EAA also notes potential operational conflicts between existing requirements and those proposed in the NPRM will likely result in operational delays, significant inconvenience, safety risks, and costs that have yet to be addressed.

Furthermore, the apparent lack of flexibility in method of communication, and the inability to modify routes in flight due to weather or other issues, pose "a significant safety threat that can neither be justified nor has been addressed in the proposal."

EAA also notes it fails to see why departure notifications and manifests are required for international travel from the US abroad.

"We feel that the procedures do not take into account the operational environment of personal aircraft conducting international flights," Macnair said. "This is particularly true when these flights operate into and out of undeveloped or underdeveloped airports and/or unimproved landing facilities in foreign countries, as is very often the case.

"We’re urging the DHS, FAA, and the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) to work together to design a notification and approval system that works seamlessly with existing international flight planning and in-flight operational procedures used by pilots operating to and from the US," Macnair added. "The significant safety, operational, procedural and legal issues need to be addressed before any such program can be implemented."

FMI: www.eaa.org