522 

14 CFR Ch. I (1–1–24 Edition) 

§ 135.611 

(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] 

§ 135.611 IFR operations at locations 

without weather reporting. 

(a) If a certificate holder is author-

ized to conduct helicopter IFR oper-
ations, the Administrator may author-
ize the certificate holder to conduct 
IFR helicopter air ambulance oper-
ations at airports with an instrument 
approach procedure and at which a 
weather report is not available from 
the U.S. National Weather Service 
(NWS), a source approved by the NWS, 
or a source approved by the FAA, sub-
ject to the following limitations: 

(1) The certificate holder must obtain 

a weather report from a weather re-
porting facility operated by the NWS, a 
source approved by the NWS, or a 
source approved by the FAA, that is lo-
cated within 15 nautical miles of the 
airport. If a weather report is not 
available, the certificate holder may 
obtain weather reports, forecasts, or 
any combination of them from the 
NWS, a source approved by the NWS, 
or a source approved by the FAA, for 
information regarding the weather ob-
served in the vicinity of the airport; 

(2) Flight planning for IFR flights 

conducted under this paragraph must 
include selection of an alternate air-
port that meets the requirements of 
§§ 135.221 and 135.223; 

(3) In Class G airspace, IFR depar-

tures with visual transitions are au-
thorized only after the pilot in com-
mand determines that the weather con-
ditions at the departure point are at or 
above takeoff minimums depicted in a 
published departure procedure or VFR 
minimum ceilings and visibilities in 
accordance with § 135.609. 

(4) All approaches must be conducted 

at Category A approach speeds as es-
tablished in part 97 or those required 
for the type of approach being used. 

(b) Each helicopter air ambulance op-

erated under this section must be 
equipped with functioning severe 
weather detection equipment, unless 
the pilot in command reasonably deter-
mines severe weather will not be en-
countered at the destination, the alter-
nate destination, or along the route of 
flight. 

(c) Pilots conducting operations pur-

suant to this section may use the 
weather information obtained in para-
graph (a) to satisfy the weather report 
and forecast requirements of § 135.213 
and § 135.225(a). 

(d) After completing a landing at the 

airport at which a weather report is 
not available, the pilot in command is 
authorized to determine if the weather 
meets the takeoff requirements of part 
97 of this chapter or the certificate 
holder’s operations specification, as ap-
plicable. 

[Doc. No. FAA–2010–0982, 79 FR 9975, Feb. 21, 
2014, as amended by Amdt. 135–131, 79 FR 
43622, July 28, 2014; Amdt. 135–141, 84 FR 
35823, July 25, 2019] 

§ 135.613 Approach/departure IFR 

transitions. 

(a) 

Approaches. 

When conducting an 

authorized instrument approach and 
transitioning from IFR to VFR flight, 
upon transitioning to VFR flight the 
following weather minimums apply— 

(1) For Point-in-Space (PinS) Copter 

Instrument approaches annotated with 
a ‘‘Proceed VFR’’ segment, if the dis-
tance from the missed approach point 
to the landing area is 1 NM or less, 
flight visibility must be at least 1 stat-
ute mile and the ceiling on the ap-
proach chart applies; 

(2) For all instrument approaches, in-

cluding PinS when paragraph (a)(1) of