Federal Firefighters on State Fires. 1. State aircraft shall remain under State “operational control.” Those personnel working on the fire and providing “tactical” direction of these aircraft are working as an agent of the State or local government and therefore are not in “operational control” as determined by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in their accident investigations. This means that Federal employees, working on a State local managed fire in such positions as IC, Operations Section Chief, Aerial Supervisor, etc., may exercise “tactical” control over an aviation resource. However, “operational” control remains with the agency managing the fire. Therefore, it is permissible for Federal employees to work with non-
Federal Firefighters on State Fires. State aircraft shall remain under State “operational control.” Those personnel working on the fire and providing “tactical” direction of these aircraft are working as an agent of the State, FPA, TPA or local government and therefore are not in “operational control” as determined by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in their accident investigations. This means that Federal employees, working on a State, FPA, TPA or locally managed fire in such positions as IC, Operations Section Chief, Aerial Supervisor, etc., may exercise “tactical” control over an aviation resource. However, “operational” control remains with the agency managing the fire. Therefore, it is permissible for Federal employees to work with non- federally approved aircraft while under the operational control of a State, FPA, TPA or local government. In an emergency, where human life on Federal lands under Federal protection is immediately threatened by wildland fire in the current burning period, a local Federal line officer may, with State concurrence, take operational control over State contracted aircraft, if sufficient Federal aircraft are not available to protect the public. The local Federal line officer must notify their Fire Director/State Fire Management Officer or Fire Director Designee/State Fire Management Officer Designee. Any such use will be documented by the approving Federal line officer, and the documentation will be forwarded to the agency national aviation headquarters within two weeks. For billing purposes, the Region and State Office will reconcile imminent threat dates and flights. The authorization for Federal agencies to use unapproved aircraft when there is an imminent threat to human life is consistent with and based upon the language found in the following laws and clarifying documents which define public vs. civil aircraft operations: Independent Safety Board Act Amendments, Public Law 103-411, signed Oct. 25, 1994. 49 U.S.C. 40102 (a)(37) FAA Advisory Circular AC 00-1.1b, Public Aircraft Operations, Feb. 12, 2014, Appendix 1 defines “public aircraft.” Reference: xxxxx://xxx.xxx.xxx/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_00-1.1B.pdf. IDL aircraft under exclusive use contract agreements are a statewide resource and are available to the signatories of this agreement within the State of Idaho for the use of suppression activities, through standard dispatch ordering processes. These aircraft are not authorized for non-suppression activities unless a Su...
Federal Firefighters on State Fires. 631 State aircraft shall remain under State “operational control.” Those personnel working on the 632 fire and providing “tactical” direction of these aircraft are working as an agent of the State, 633 FPA, TPA or local government and therefore are not in “operational control” as determined 634 by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in their accident investigations. This 635 means that Federal employees, working on a State, FPA, TPA or locally managed fire in such 636 positions as IC, Operations Section Chief, Aerial Supervisor, etc., may exercise “tactical” 637 control over an aviation resource. However, “operational” control remains with the agency 638 managing the fire. Therefore, it is permissible for Federal employees to work with non- 639 federally approved aircraft while under the operational control of a State, FPA, TPA or local 640 government. 641 In an emergency, where human life on Federal lands under Federal protection is 642 immediately threatened by wildland fire in the current burning period, a local Federal line 643 officer may, with State concurrence, take operational control over State contracted aircraft, 644 if sufficient Federal aircraft are not available to protect the public. 645 646 The local Federal line officer must notify their Fire Director/State Fire Management Officer 647 or Fire Director Designee/State Fire Management Officer Designee. Any such use will be 648 documented by the approving Federal line officer, and the documentation will be forwarded 649 to the agency national aviation headquarters within two weeks. For billing purposes, the 650 Region and State Office will reconcile imminent threat dates and flights. 651 652 The authorization for Federal agencies to use unapproved aircraft when there is an imminent 653 threat to human life is consistent with and based upon the language found in the following 654 laws and clarifying documents which define public vs. civil aircraft operations: 655 656 Independent Safety Board Act Amendments, Public Law 103-411, signed Oct. 25, 1994. 49 657 U.S.C. 40102 (a)(37) 658 FAA Advisory Circular AC 00-1.1b, Public Aircraft Operations, Feb. 12, 2014, Appendix 1 659 defines “public aircraft.” Reference: 660 xxxxx://xxx.xxx.xxx/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_00-1.1B.pdf. 661 662 IDL aircraft under exclusive use contract agreements are a statewide resource and are 663 available to the signatories of this agreement within the State of Idaho for the use of 664 suppressio...
