Part 135 Question - Weather Reporting requirement

Who can tell me what the wording means in 135.225 (a) (1) and (2).
So you don't have to look it up - these are weather reporting minima to
initiate an instrument approach procedure. (1) (the) airport has a weather
reporting facility operated by the US NWS, a source approved by the NWS or a
source approved by the Administrator, and (2) The latest weather report . . .
at or above IFR minimums for that airport

Does this mean that all airports without active NWS observing stations are off
limits to air taxi operators? Even in perfect weather conditions? What if an
air taxi operator wants to schedule a flight into a Class D airport, arriving
after hours, when everyone has gone home, and the airport has reverted to
Class G? What if the "latest weather report" was five hours ago?

G Faris

G Farris wrote:
Who can tell me what the wording means in 135.225 (a) (1) and (2).


These rules apply to IFR operations. If operating VFR they don't apply.
If operating IFR even in VMC presumably they do apply

(G Farris) wrote
Does this mean that all airports without active NWS observing stations are off
limits to air taxi operators? Even in perfect weather conditions?

This is a safety rule. It only applies when they operate IFR. VFR
requires no weather reporting.

Of course since this is a safety rule, it makes the operation less
safe. Here's how:

I know a guy who flies a Caravan for a Part-135 cargo operation. He
used to fly into CFD, which has no weather reporting. That meant that
if the ceilings were less than about 2000 (high enough to get dropped
down to the MVA, go visual, and cancel IFR) he couldn't get in.

His alternate was CLL, but that was a pain for transferring cargo.
Usual procedure was to shoot the approach into CLL, and then, if the
weather was good enough (mile and clear of clouds), scud run to CFD
(just a few miles away).

But hey - he wasn't taking the chance of shooting an approach into an
airport without weather reporting.

Michael

In article ,
says...

(G Farris) wrote
Does this mean that all airports without active NWS observing stations are
off
limits to air taxi operators? Even in perfect weather conditions?

This is a safety rule. It only applies when they operate IFR. VFR
requires no weather reporting.

Of course since this is a safety rule, it makes the operation less
safe. Here's how:

I know a guy who flies a Caravan for a Part-135 cargo operation. He
used to fly into CFD, which has no weather reporting. That meant that
if the ceilings were less than about 2000 (high enough to get dropped
down to the MVA, go visual, and cancel IFR) he couldn't get in.

His alternate was CLL, but that was a pain for transferring cargo.
Usual procedure was to shoot the approach into CLL, and then, if the
weather was good enough (mile and clear of clouds), scud run to CFD
(just a few miles away).

But hey - he wasn't taking the chance of shooting an approach into an
airport without weather reporting.



Yeah, that was pretty much the jist of my question.
Not being able to shoot the approach because you have weather reported below
minimums I can understand, even though under Part 91, if it's marginal, you
can at least have a look. But not being able to file to the destination or
shoot the approach because there is no weather reporting seems pretty
restrictive, and could lead to some risky compromises - which of course the
authority will place completely on the operator's doorstep. Another variant
would be to cancel IFR when it's really marginal, or even go Special VFR, both
of which are clearly more dangerous than shooting a published IFR approach. As
for charters, now that more and more companies don't allow their pilots to fly
VFR at all, that just means a lot of airports off limits to Part 135
operations. Unless I'm missing something, you could be IFR, in perfect VMC at
an airport with a fully functioning instrument approach, and still not be able
to land because there is no weather reporting. Perhaps companies with
"all-IFR" rules allow some flexibility in these situations?

G Faris

I wonder what MartinAir's actual policy and op-specs prescribe for this
situation, and if the pilot is compliant with those policies.

Dave

Michael wrote:
(G Farris) wrote

Does this mean that all airports without active NWS observing stations are off
limits to air taxi operators? Even in perfect weather conditions?


This is a safety rule. It only applies when they operate IFR. VFR
requires no weather reporting.

Of course since this is a safety rule, it makes the operation less
safe. Here's how:

I know a guy who flies a Caravan for a Part-135 cargo operation. He
used to fly into CFD, which has no weather reporting. That meant that
if the ceilings were less than about 2000 (high enough to get dropped
down to the MVA, go visual, and cancel IFR) he couldn't get in.

His alternate was CLL, but that was a pain for transferring cargo.
Usual procedure was to shoot the approach into CLL, and then, if the
weather was good enough (mile and clear of clouds), scud run to CFD
(just a few miles away).

But hey - he wasn't taking the chance of shooting an approach into an
airport without weather reporting.

Michael

(G Farris) wrote in :

Who can tell me what the wording means in 135.225 (a) (1) and (2).
So you don't have to look it up - these are weather reporting minima to
initiate an instrument approach procedure. (1) (the) airport has a
weather reporting facility operated by the US NWS, a source approved by
the NWS or a source approved by the Administrator, and (2) The latest
weather report . . . at or above IFR minimums for that airport

Does this mean that all airports without active NWS observing stations
are off limits to air taxi operators? Even in perfect weather
conditions? What if an air taxi operator wants to schedule a flight into
a Class D airport, arriving after hours, when everyone has gone home,
and the airport has reverted to Class G? What if the "latest weather
report" was five hours ago?

Some operators have their own approved weather reporting. We have several of
these, using NWS approved observers. Some locations have waivers, using the
observation at a nearby airport. But yes, if there is no weather reporting,
then you can't fly an instrument approach there under IFR under Part 135.
Not every FAR makes perfect sense under all conditions, but we have to live
with them.

--
Regards,

Stan