NOTICE
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
N 8900.216

National Policy
Effective Date: 5/22/13


Cancellation Date: 5/22/14

SUBJ:
OpSpec/MSpec A002, Definitions and Abbreviations; and OpSpec/MSpec/LOA C052, Straight-In Non-Precision, APV, and Category I Precision Approach and Landing Minima—All Airports
1. Purpose of this Notice. This notice provides revised guidance for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certificate-holding district offices (CHDO) and principal operations inspectors (POI) assigned to operators conducting airplane operations under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) parts 91 subpart K (part 91K), 121, 125 (including the Letter of Deviation Authority (LODA) 125M operators), 129, and 135. This notice amends operations specifications (OpSpecs) A002 and C052. They are amended as follows:

a. OpSpec A002: Added the following Area Navigation (RNAV) (Global Positioning System (GPS)) precision runway monitor (PRM) definition: RNAV (GPS) PRM: RNAV (GPS) approach that may be substituted for an instrument landing system (ILS) PRM or localizer-type directional aid (LDA) PRM approach and is procedurally equivalent.

b. OpSpec C052: Amended FAA Order 8900.1 guidance to include RNAV (GPS) PRM approaches and added a non-mandatory RNAV (GPS) PRM selectable to the OpSpec.

2. Audience. The primary audience for this notice is FAA CHDOs and POIs assigned to operators conducting airplane operations under parts 91K, 121, 125 (including the LODA 125M operators), 129, and 135. The secondary audience includes Flight Standards divisions including their branches in the FAA regions and at FAA headquarters (HQ).

3. Where You Can Find This Notice. You can find this notice on the MyFAA employee Web site at https://employees.faa.gov/tools_reso...rders_notices/. Inspectors can access this notice through the Flight Standards Information Management System (FSIMS) at http://fsims.avs.faa.gov. Operators may find this information on the FAA’s Web site at Flight Standards Information System (FSIMS). This notice is available to the public at Orders & Notices.

4. Background. For about three months in mid-year 2013, the FAA will render the LDA for runway 28L and the ILS for runway 28L out of service (OTS) at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) due to runway construction. The loss of these navigation aids will eliminate the ability for SFO to conduct PRM approaches during simultaneous offset instrument approach (SOIA) operations. The FAA plans to publish RNAV (GPS) PRM procedures prior to this navigation aid shutdown. These procedures will mirror the OTS approach courses so that SOIA can be conducted during the construction period. After the construction is complete, the RNAV (GPS) PRM approaches will be available in the event of either a scheduled or unplanned loss of a ground-based navigation aid. They will also be available as an alternate method for conducting a SOIA approach when requested by the pilot and cleared to do so by air traffic control (ATC). The changes in OpSpecs to include RNAV (GPS) PRM are presently applicable only at SFO, but may in the future apply to any location where closely-spaced approaches are conducted, and where RNAV (GPS) PRM‑approaches are published.