Narrative:

I am a pilot that is employed by a [tour company where] we operate a helicopter for tourists. The flights are operated with the left doors removed or 'open-door.' the passengers are seated in their normal berths for the flight and use the standard seatbelt that is required for aircraft certification. We also utilize a mountain climbing style harness and a quick release lanyard for each passenger to ensure that no one can fall out of the aircraft. (These quick release lanyards are designed for military aviation use but do not have an stc or pma). We also use the harnesses to permit the passengers to stand up and 'rotate' through the aft section of the cabin. This rotation is practiced on the ground in a full size helicopter mock up and then observed and coordinated by the pilot and an on board safety officer when in flight. The safety officer also conducts a pre-flight ground briefing and assists the passengers during loading and unloading phases. In addition; the safety officer is in charge of safely in flight. There have not been any safety issues with this arrangement. On [this day]; I received a forwarded email from the owner of my company that had a link to an emergency restriction/prohibition order from the FAA [docket no. FAA-2018-0243] titled: 'doors-off' and 'open-door' flight prohibition. After reading through the order; I informed the owner that I didn't believe we could fly the flights that we had scheduled that same day without further guidance from the FAA. There were many questions raised by the order but the primary concern was that the order was now prohibiting the use of lanyards that could not be released quickly by passengers. I twice attempted to call the phone number on the order but the call went directly to a voice mailbox that did not seem to belong to any FAA official. The owner of the company and I had to start driving out to the [tour area] for our scheduled flights and during the drive we called a [representative] from the FSDO. She informed us that she was aware of the order but hadn't had an opportunity to read it in full yet. We asked about what impact the order had on our operations and she wasn't sure. She said she would get back to [us] if she found anything out. After we hung up we received a call from aviation safety inspector (asi) from the FSDO and he stated that the order was not signed yet and that it may change before it reaches its final form. In order to comply with emergency restriction we made the decision to remove all passenger lanyards from the aircraft. We also decided that no passenger would wear a harness for any of the flights. We would take off with every passenger in an approved seat and with an approved seat belt on (as outlined in the order) and when the passenger [needed to rotate]; we would return to the landing pad and perform the passenger 'rotation' on the ground. This removed the hazard of having passengers removing their seatbelts and moving around in the cabin while the left hand door was open. We flew all of our scheduled flights this way and had no incidents with seatbelts or passengers. After the flights had been completed; I returned the helicopter [to the] airport and put the aircraft back in the hangar. About 30 minutes later the owner arrived at the hangar and told me that he had spoken with another asi from the FSDO. He told me that asi was concerned that we had operated a doors off flight after the order had come out. The owner of the company told the asi that we followed the order by removing the lanyards and that no passenger wore a harness. The owner then told me that the asi was asking about how the safety officer was able to do his duties while wearing only his normal seatbelt and whether or not he wore a harness. I was not present for the phone call between the owner and asi so I have no idea what else they spoke about. The safety officer for all of my flights did wear a harness with a quick release lanyard while performing his duties on board. He wore the harness and lanyard because we consider him a required 'crewmember' (far 1.1) because he has specific functions to perform on board the aircraft. He is also a paid employee of our company and is not a paying passenger. He has received training in the use of the harness and lanyard and was also responsible for ensuring that the passengers were secured with their harnesses and lanyards (prior to the order). As of this time; I am not sure whether a violation has actually occurred. I am unsure because 1. At the time of my flights; the emergency order had not been signed yet by any FAA official and I did not know if [it] was valid or if it would be changed. 2. The order does not specifically address the use of harnesses for required crew on board. 3. The FAA released this order without an opportunity to address the author(s) to allow clarity or ask questions that pertain to specific operations. 4. The FAA did not adequately brief their fsdos to allow dissemination of information to operators. Safety is my most important concern as a pilot and a mechanic. I feel I correctly followed by the order by not harnessing and using lanyards on untrained passengers that may be at risk of being trapped in the aircraft during an emergency. Because the order did not specifically mention harnesses on crewmembers and no member of the FAA that we spoke to knew the specifics of the order; we were unsure of what to do. I feel that I was placed into this situation by economic factors. These factors have reduced revenue and placed a financial strain on the company's owner and created a need to fly every available flight. I believe that the modifications we made for this flight were appropriate given the information we had available to us at the time. We took reasonable steps to reach out for further guidance and unfortunately; guidance was not available. I also believe that the FAA could have assembled a team to answer questions from operators regarding this order. By releasing the order toward the end of the week and not having anyone answering phones in washington; it left questions that ultimately pit flight crews against owners/management because of interpretation instead of facts.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air taxi helicopter pilot reported potentially operating in violation of a new FAA Directive regarding passenger/crew harnesses during open door flight.

Narrative: I am a pilot that is employed by a [tour company where] we operate a helicopter for tourists. The flights are operated with the left doors removed or 'open-door.' The passengers are seated in their normal berths for the flight and use the standard seatbelt that is required for aircraft certification. We also utilize a mountain climbing style harness and a quick release lanyard for each passenger to ensure that no one can fall out of the aircraft. (These quick release lanyards are designed for military aviation use but do not have an STC or PMA). We also use the harnesses to permit the passengers to stand up and 'rotate' through the aft section of the cabin. This rotation is practiced on the ground in a full size helicopter mock up and then observed and coordinated by the pilot and an on board Safety Officer when in flight. The Safety Officer also conducts a pre-flight ground briefing and assists the passengers during loading and unloading phases. In addition; the Safety Officer is in charge of safely in flight. There have not been any safety issues with this arrangement. On [this day]; I received a forwarded email from the owner of my company that had a link to an Emergency Restriction/Prohibition Order from the FAA [Docket No. FAA-2018-0243] Titled: 'Doors-off' and 'Open-Door' Flight Prohibition. After reading through the order; I informed the owner that I didn't believe we could fly the flights that we had scheduled that same day without further guidance from the FAA. There were many questions raised by the order but the primary concern was that the order was now prohibiting the use of lanyards that could not be released quickly by passengers. I twice attempted to call the phone number on the order but the call went directly to a voice mailbox that did not seem to belong to any FAA official. The owner of the company and I had to start driving out to the [Tour Area] for our scheduled flights and during the drive we called a [representative] from the FSDO. She informed us that she was aware of the order but hadn't had an opportunity to read it in full yet. We asked about what impact the order had on our operations and she wasn't sure. She said she would get back to [us] if she found anything out. After we hung up we received a call from Aviation Safety Inspector (ASI) from the FSDO and he stated that the order was not signed yet and that it may change before it reaches its final form. In order to comply with Emergency Restriction we made the decision to remove all passenger lanyards from the aircraft. We also decided that no passenger would wear a harness for any of the flights. We would take off with every passenger in an approved seat and with an approved seat belt on (as outlined in the order) and when the passenger [needed to rotate]; we would return to the landing pad and perform the passenger 'rotation' on the ground. This removed the hazard of having passengers removing their seatbelts and moving around in the cabin while the left hand door was open. We flew all of our scheduled flights this way and had no incidents with seatbelts or passengers. After the flights had been completed; I returned the helicopter [to the] airport and put the aircraft back in the hangar. About 30 minutes later the owner arrived at the hangar and told me that he had spoken with another ASI from the FSDO. He told me that ASI was concerned that we had operated a doors off flight after the order had come out. The owner of the company told the ASI that we followed the order by removing the lanyards and that no passenger wore a harness. The owner then told me that the ASI was asking about how the Safety Officer was able to do his duties while wearing only his normal seatbelt and whether or not he wore a harness. I was not present for the phone call between the owner and ASI so I have no idea what else they spoke about. The Safety Officer for all of my flights did wear a harness with a quick release lanyard while performing his duties on board. He wore the harness and lanyard because we consider him a required 'crewmember' (FAR 1.1) because he has specific functions to perform on board the aircraft. He is also a paid employee of our company and is not a paying passenger. He has received training in the use of the harness and lanyard and was also responsible for ensuring that the passengers were secured with their harnesses and lanyards (prior to the order). As of this time; I am not sure whether a violation has actually occurred. I am unsure because 1. At the time of my flights; the Emergency Order had not been signed yet by any FAA official and I did not know if [it] was valid or if it would be changed. 2. The order does not specifically address the use of harnesses for required crew on board. 3. The FAA released this order without an opportunity to address the author(s) to allow clarity or ask questions that pertain to specific operations. 4. The FAA did not adequately brief their FSDOs to allow dissemination of information to operators. Safety is my most important concern as a pilot and a mechanic. I feel I correctly followed by the order by not harnessing and using lanyards on untrained passengers that may be at risk of being trapped in the aircraft during an emergency. Because the order did not specifically mention harnesses on crewmembers and no member of the FAA that we spoke to knew the specifics of the order; we were unsure of what to do. I feel that I was placed into this situation by economic factors. These factors have reduced revenue and placed a financial strain on the company's owner and created a need to fly every available flight. I believe that the modifications we made for this flight were appropriate given the information we had available to us at the time. We took reasonable steps to reach out for further guidance and unfortunately; guidance was not available. I also believe that the FAA could have assembled a team to answer questions from operators regarding this order. By releasing the order toward the end of the week and not having anyone answering phones in Washington; it left questions that ultimately pit flight crews against owners/management because of interpretation instead of facts.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.