During the Boeing media briefings at the end of April, the FAA’s Steve Boyd talked about exemptions to airworthiness certification that the agency has given.
He brought it up as an example of what the FAA might consider when issuing certification for Boeing new 787 Dreamliner and whether exemptions are necessary.
Jet makers have to prove their airplanes meet the FAA’s requirements but can ask for an exemption if the proposed change has a “minor or insignificant affect on safety,” Boyd said.
His example: the FAA’s regulations forbid people from going into the cargo hold on freighters. The FAA was asked for an exemption for cargo jets carrying horses.
“There’s a growing need to transport horses for equestrian events,” Boyd said. “How do you tend horses during a flight so you don’t have to put horses on a boat?”
So the FAA agreed to allow people to tend to horses on cargo planes with certain precautions: passengers can only be in the cargo hold during flight, not during taxi or takeoff. The cargo area has to carry oxygen and have a lighting system to notify people when it’s time to land.
I don’t know about you, but I never gave much thought about how horses are transported from one event or race to the next until last weekend’s Kentucky Derby. Sports writers pointed out that 50-to-1 winner, Mine That Bird, arrived at the Derby in a trailer pulled by his owner. That certainly wasn’t an option for most entrants in Olympic equestrian competition last summer in Beijing.
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