Exceptions are available for charita- ble events, defined as those raising funds to benefit organizations quali- fied as “charitable” under US Treasury Department regulations. No such organization was associated with either MARPAT Aviation or the Huey reunion specifically. In the mid-1990s, the FAA also


established the Living History Flight Experience (LHFE) policy “to provide a means for private owners and opera- tors of historically significant … military aircraft to conduct limited passen- ger-carrying flights for compensation to generate funds for maintaining and preserving such historically significant aircraft.” Participation requires obtain- ing an exemption from the FAA; in 2022, 21 owners or operators, includ- ing 6 operating UH-1 helicopters, held LHFE exemptions. MARPAT Aviation didn’t, and the operator hadn’t applied for any other exemptions to charge for flights in an experimental exhibition category helicopter.


The Takeaway Not surprisingly, the NTSB found the probable cause of the accident to be “the operator’s failure to ade- quately inspect the former military turbine-powered helicopter, which allowed an engine issue to progress and result in a loss of engine power and a subsequent loss of control after the helicopter struck power lines during a forced landing.” Unlike its typical prac- tice of also citing “contributing” fac- tors, the NTSB held that “also causal


to the accident were the following: ▪ The FAA’s inadequate inspection and maintenance standards for former military turbine-powered aircraft operating with an experimental exhi- bition airworthiness certificate


▪ The operator’s use of those stan- dards instead of more rigorous


standards, which were readily avail- able to the operator and previously used to inspect and maintain the helicopter


▪ The FAA’s inadequate oversight of the operator, which did not detect the inherent risk associated with the operation.” It’s a safe bet that no opera-


tor wants to risk the destruction of equipment, much less the loss of lives. Knowing the risk of impending engine failure would have been ample reason to cancel the Huey reunion, or at least leave the helicopter on static display. And from the beginning of any avia- tion career, it’s deeply ingrained that compliance with the Code of Federal Regulations is the first defense against trouble—not just legal, but physical, as well. But what happens when the reg-


ulations themselves are confusing, ambiguous, or repeatedly changed in ways that don’t seem to make sense? Faced with requirements that seemed to shift almost at random, not only from year to year but between differ- ent registration categories, the oper- ator had to make decisions. The most conservative approach would have been to maintain the inspection criteria of the army technical manuals, recog- nizing that they were more specific to the aircraft as well as more rigorous. The FAA’s willingness to accept the


general provisions of Part 43, Appendix D, on the other hand, could be taken as official assurance that those generic standards were good enough, as well as easier and less expensive to imple- ment. The NTSB makes a case that those regulatory gray areas and lack of specific oversight opened enough of a gap for the unfortunate occupants of N98F to fall through. David Jack Kenny is a fixed-wing ATP with commercial privileges for helicopter.


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