Southwest Oregon Regional Airport officials are holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the North Bend Airport’s new Aircraft Rescue & Fire Fighting (ARFF) Station Thursday afternoon, Aug. 17th. Station tours, demonstrations, and presentations are planned for the invited guests. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) is a type of firefighting that involves the emergency response, mitigation, evacuation, and rescue of passengers and crew of aircraft involved in aviation accidents and incidents. The FAA requires operators of Part 139 airports to provide ARFF services during air carrier operations that require a Part 139 certificate. “Compliance with 14 CFR Part 139 is mandatory for an operator of a U.S. airport that chooses to serve air carrier operations covered by the regulation. (An airport operator may be a public entity, such as a county or city, or a private organization or individual.) Specifically, Part 139 applies to operators of airports in any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, or any territory or possession of the United States serving passenger-carrying operations of an air carrier certificated under 14 CFR Part 121 and 14 CFR Part 380 if Scheduled passenger-carrying operations are conducted in aircraft designed for more than 9 passenger seats, and Unscheduled passenger-carrying operations are conducted in aircraft designed for at least 31 passenger seats. Airport operators can choose not to be certificated under Part 139. Part 139 is mandatory only if the airport operator chooses to serve the air carrier operations described above.”
