Procedures for Hazard Relief Participating Aircraft Within Incident TFRs.
The TFR’s incident dispatch office should:
The Aviation officer will:
The Official in charge of on-scene emergency response or as delegated will:
The Incident Commander will:
If the managing office is the Geographic Area Coordination Center (GACC), they will forward the request to:
No. IA IB 24-01 Date: January 30, 2024 Page 2 of 3 • On incidents managed by a Complex Incident Management Team (CIMT), the official in charge, in order of precedence would include the Incident Commander (IC), Air Operations Branch Director (AOBD) or Air Tactical Group Supervisor (ATGS), Aerial Supervison Module (ASM), or the Leadplane (LP) or Helicopter Coordinator (HLCO). The official in charge can also be delegated to other aviation positions assigned to the incident, such as Helibase Manager (HEBM) or Helicopter Manager (HMGB).
• For locally managed incidents, the official in charge can be the Unit or Forest Aviation Officer, Aerial Supervisor, or Incident Commander. This can also be delegated at the discretion of the Unit Aviation Officer Forest Aviation Officer or IC to include positions such as HEBM or HMGB.
The official in charge or desingee is situationally dependent based on incident complexity and delegation from the Incident Commander. When aerial supervision is present they are the final authority in the approval process.
Link to Hazard Relief Participant Request Form and criteria to meet definition of Participating Aircraft: Hazard Relief Participant Request Form , PMS 520-1 (nwcg.gov) Procedures for Hazard Relief Participating Aircraft Within Incident TFRs.
Approval for aircraft participation will occur at two levels. The first level will be the Avia tion Officer who will determine the applicable criteria for participation. The second level will be the official in charge (or designee) of the on-scene emergency response.
This guidance is explicit to aircraft participating in hazard relief mission(s) within a TFR. It does not pertain to media aircraft as there are separate established protocols in place for them.
The perspecitve Participant Pilot will be required to establish contact with the TFR’s managing dispatch office listed on the NOTAM and submit the written request by 6:00 p.m. the day prior to the requested flight operation.
The TFR’s incident dispatch office should: • Gather contact information and provide a dispatch email address to the requestor pilot or point of contact.
• Send the requestor the Hazard Relief Participant Request Form or link to complete https://www.nwcg.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pms520-1.pdf .
• Once the managing dispatch office receives the completed request, they will forward the request to their Aviation officer to determine if the request meets the criteria to participate.
The Aviation officer will: • Make the determination whether or not the requestor meets the criteria for participation.
• Provide initial approval or denial of the request based on current complexity.
• If approved, the Aviation officer will forward the completed request to the official in charge of on-scene emergency response activities for their approval and coordination with the managing dispatch center.
The Official in charge of on-scene emergency response or as delegated will: • Approve or deny the request and coordinate with the managing dispatch center and the requesting participant pilot to discuss details on the mission, time frames, and to verify frequencies.
The Incident Commander will: • Designate the official in charge of the Temporary Flight Restriction via email and carbon copy (CC) the UAO, RAO, RASM, Managing Dispatch, and Cooperators.
If the managing office is the Geographic Area Coordination Center (GACC), they will forward the request to: • Local/Tier 3 dispatch centers, who will share with • Respective Unit Aviation Officer(s).
• Official in charge of the on-scene emergency response or as delegated Respective State and/or Regional Federal Aviation Officers.
If the managing office is a Local Center, they will forward the request to:
No. IA IB 24-01 Date: January 30, 2024 Page 3 of 3 If the managing office is a Local Center, they will forward the request to: • Geographic Area Coordination Center Airspace POC, who will share with the respective State and Federal Aviation Officer(s) of jurisdiction.
• Respective Unit Aviation Officer(s).
• Official in charge of the on scene emergency response or as delegated.
For questions, contact: Kim Owczarzak, National Interagency Airspace Coordinator at kimberley.owczarzak@usda.gov .
/s/ / Keith Raley /s/ Lori Clark Keith Raley Lori Clark Chief, Aviation Safety, Program Evaluation, Branch Chief - Aviation Safety Management and Quality Management Systems DOI, Office of Aviation Services USDA, Forest Service