FAA Reference Library
FAA Office of Chief Counsel interpretations of the regulations - how the FAA reads its own rules, issued in response to specific questions.
About Legal Interpretations
Legal interpretations are letters from the FAA Chief Counsel explaining how a regulation applies to a specific situation. They are non-binding but carry real weight in how the FARs are enforced and understood. Sourced from the FAA Dynamic Regulatory System; each links to the full letter.
View Mode
July 20, 2012
FlightPush Summary
The FAA concluded that the "Jetman" wing, when worn and flown by its pilot, is an "aircraft" under 49 U.S.C. 40102(a)(6). Being worn, launched from another aircraft, and controlled by body motion does not change that, though it may not meet every regulatory requirement, and the FAA would need to set appropriate certification and operating conditions.
May 25, 2012
FlightPush Summary
Terrafugia asked what "in furtherance of a business" means for sport pilots under 14 CFR 61.315(c)(3). The FAA said any flight conducted for a business purpose, even one only incidental to the business, is in furtherance of a business and off-limits to sport pilots, unlike private pilots under 14 CFR 61.113(b). The limit turns on the pilot's certificate, not the aircraft's.
May 24, 2012
FlightPush Summary
When an AWOS at a Class E surface airport reports 1/4-mile visibility, a VFR pilot may not land even if the pilot sees most of the runway clear, because 14 CFR 91.155(d) requires 3 statute miles of ground visibility. ATC cannot grant special VFR either, since the pilot's own observation cannot override the official AWOS report.
October 15, 2012
FlightPush Summary
The Suffolk County Police Department asked whether its free trauma transports are public aircraft operations. The FAA said rescue flights from a trauma scene can qualify as search and rescue, with the patient as a qualified non-crewmember, as long as no fee is charged. Inter-hospital transfers do not appear to qualify and would be civil transport subject to 14 CFR.
October 17, 2012
FlightPush Summary
A requester asked whether a flight instructor with an instrument rating but no aircraft category or class ratings may give instrument training in simulators or training devices. The FAA said no: under its reading of 14 CFR 61.195(b) and (c), the instructor needs category and class ratings plus an appropriate instrument rating, and that applies in devices that replicate aircraft by category and class.
May 11, 2012
FlightPush Summary
A pilot asked whether a Civil Air Patrol CAPF 5 annual check ride counts as a flight review under 14 CFR 61.56. It does not on its own, since the regulations do not list it as a substitute. However, if the person conducting it is a flight instructor authorized in that aircraft and willing to cover all flight review items, one flight check can satisfy both.
October 12, 2012
FlightPush Summary
Island Airways asked whether its pilots who also do maintenance at its part 145 repair station must count that time as part 135 duty. The FAA said yes: a pilot-mechanic expected to fly if needed is on duty, and even without that expectation, company-assigned maintenance is work, not rest, so it cannot count as a rest period.
January 20, 2012
FlightPush Summary
Southwest Airlines asked to name both Southwest and AirTran on one operating certificate during their merger. The FAA foresaw no legal or practical impediment, provided the carriers meet its conditions, including a committed merger with one entity controlling the other, compliance with 14 CFR part 119, and a single management team under 14 CFR 119.65, and wanted the certificate amended once one entity remains.
February 27, 2012
FlightPush Summary
Mechanics and repairmen are not required to complete manufacturer-mandated factory or recurrent training, such as Rotax's, before working on a light-sport aircraft engine, because 14 CFR part 43 and 14 CFR part 65 contain no such requirement. A manufacturer's manual cannot impose training requirements beyond the regulations, though the FAA strongly encourages initial and recurrent training.
September 4, 2012
FlightPush Summary
Ultralight vehicles under 14 CFR part 103 may use electric motors, but the batteries that power them must be included in empty weight, which may not exceed 254 pounds. The FAA does not treat these batteries as usable fuel, because they remain installed and keep virtually the same weight after they are depleted.
May 18, 2012
FlightPush Summary
The School of Aeronautical Science asked which endorsements a student pilot needs for repeated solo cross-country flights to an airport within 50 nautical miles. The FAA said both are required: the logbook endorsement in 14 CFR 61.93(b)(2)(ii) and the student pilot certificate endorsement in 14 CFR 61.93(c)(1).
January 20, 2012
FlightPush Summary
On an unaugmented flight, 14 CFR 91.105(a)(1) bars a required flight crewmember from taking a controlled rest period, because neither exception (duties connected with operating the aircraft, or brief physiological needs) covers sleep. On an augmented flight, a crewmember relieved by another qualified crewmember may sleep. Every crewmember remains responsible for being sufficiently rested before accepting a planned flight.
August 18, 2012
FlightPush Summary
The FAA said it could not give discrete definitions of "densely populated" and "congested airway," which limit experimental aircraft under 14 CFR 91.319(c) and related rules. Population-related terms are applied case by case, charts give only general guidance, and pilots remain responsible for minimum safe altitudes under 14 CFR 91.119. The FAA suggested reviewing guidance material to add examples.
May 25, 2012
FlightPush Summary
A requester asked what paperwork a private pilot applicant who used a home-study course needs. The FAA said 14 CFR 61.105 requires no specific documentation, the knowledge test endorsement has no required wording, and 14 CFR 61.107 requires logged ground and flight training without listing each area of operation verbatim.
June 4, 2012
FlightPush Summary
A requester asked whether landings flown by a student count toward a flight instructor's own takeoff and landing currency. The FAA said no, because 14 CFR 61.57(a)(1)(i) and 14 CFR 61.57(b)(1)(i) require the person to be sole manipulator of the controls. Instrument approaches differ because 14 CFR 61.57(c)(1) uses "performed and logged" language instead.
April 13, 2012
FlightPush Summary
A first officer may log PIC time as sole manipulator only with the appropriate category, class, and type rating (not an SIC-privileges-only type rating), or under 14 CFR 61.51(e)(1)(iv) while in an approved PIC training program. The interpretation corrects a 1999 FAA Northwest Mountain Regional Office interpretation to Bill Carpenter that said an SIC can log PIC time under 14 CFR 61.51.
December 26, 2012
FlightPush Summary
A requester asked whether the 25 hours of supervised flight time to remove a 14 CFR 61.64 pilot-in-command limitation can be flown from either seat and under 14 CFR part 135 or 14 CFR part 91. The FAA said 14 CFR 61.64(g) requires no particular seat, only that the time be obtained performing pilot-in-command duties, and does not limit the operating rules.
June 25, 2012
FlightPush Summary
The FAA was asked whether an aircraft used by two different Part 135 operators can meet the exclusive-use requirement of 14 CFR 135.25(b). It cannot: exclusive use means sole possession, control, and use of the aircraft, which neither operator has when the aircraft is shared.
April 13, 2012
FlightPush Summary
The FAA's Air Transportation Division asked whether an airline transport pilot applicant needs 250 hours as pilot in command. The FAA said no: 14 CFR 61.159(a)(4) lets applicants count time as second in command performing pilot in command duties under supervision, logged as second in command time unless the pilot is in an approved pilot in command training program under 14 CFR 61.51(e)(1)(iv).
December 7, 2012
FlightPush Summary
A requester asked whether a 1977 interpretation on private pilots and compensation at balloon events still applies. The FAA said yes, because 14 CFR 61.113 matches the earlier rule in all relevant respects; the key question is whether anything of value the pilot receives is conditioned on the pilot operating the aircraft.
December 26, 2012
FlightPush Summary
The Aeronautical Repair Station Association asked the FAA to retract its 2010 McHugh interpretation on maintenance personnel rest under 14 CFR 121.377. After public comment, the FAA rescinded the part of McHugh dealing with the "or the equivalent thereof" language, agreeing it would change longstanding precedent; giving the equivalent amount of rest within a calendar month satisfies the rule.
September 28, 2012
FlightPush Summary
Spin training for a CFI certificate or upset recovery training is not considered aerobatic, so 14 CFR 91.303 does not apply, if no other aerobatic maneuvers are performed. The area above and below must be clear of traffic, and spins should begin high enough to recover at or above 1,500 feet AGL. Spins combined with aerobatics or done for other purposes need 14 CFR 91.303 compliance or a waiver.
November 14, 2012
FlightPush Summary
An ATP sought to upgrade single-engine land and sea ratings using a VFR-only seaplane plus an IFR-capable landplane. The FAA said that plan does not meet 14 CFR 61.45 because the seaplane lacks instrument equipment and the landplane is the wrong class, so the rating would carry a limitation. Both tests may be given in a properly certificated and maintained amphibious airplane.
March 1, 2012
FlightPush Summary
The Aviation Designee Association asked whether the deviation provisions in 14 CFR 21.329(b) and 14 CFR 21.331(b) and (d) relieve aircraft and engines from normal export requirements. The FAA agreed: export certificates of airworthiness and export airworthiness approvals may be issued when the conditions of those paragraphs are met.
February 24, 2012
FlightPush Summary
The FAA found that contracted mosquito-control helicopter flights for Minnesota's Metropolitan Mosquito Control District appeared to be valid public aircraft operations, not automatically 14 CFR part 137 civil operations, because paying a contractor is not prohibited compensation. MMCD must still give the operator a written declaration identifying the aircraft; a contract alone does not confer public aircraft status.
June 18, 2012
FlightPush Summary
An external-load operator cannot make a residential or commercial part of town uncongested by clearing people out, so a congested area plan is still needed there. An isolated site such as a factory can be made uncongested by depopulating it and keeping people out, for example under a contingency plan for a sterile operation area.
June 24, 2012
FlightPush Summary
A requester asked which medical certificate a private pilot needs to tow gliders or unpowered ultralights for compensation or hire under 14 CFR 61.113(g). The FAA said a third-class medical certificate, because towing requires only a private pilot certificate and 14 CFR 61.23 requires a third-class medical certificate to exercise private pilot privileges.
October 25, 2012
FlightPush Summary
The FAA found that issuing AW-139 type ratings with an SIC Required limitation to Maryland State Police pilots was a reasonable reading of 14 CFR 61.63 and 14 CFR 61.43. Pilots can remove the limitation under 14 CFR 61.43(b)(3) by demonstrating single-pilot proficiency in VFR conditions, and future applicants can combine two-pilot instrument and single-pilot VFR test segments.
November 28, 2012
FlightPush Summary
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. asked whether pilots transferring among its affiliated carriers during a certificate merger must be treated as new hires under the Pilot Records Improvement Act. The FAA said no, because each carrier had already satisfied PRIA's safety intent and the background check records are on file, so the merger proposal complies with PRIA.
February 6, 2012
FlightPush Summary
The FAA's Flight Inspection Operations Group asked whether part 135 pilots must demonstrate a circling approach on instrument proficiency checks under 14 CFR 135.297. The FAA said no when the operator is prohibited from circling below a 1,000-foot ceiling and 3-mile visibility, a policy in FAA Order 8900.1 that the August 2011 interpretation did not change.
March 22, 2012
FlightPush Summary
The FAA said currency under the flight review rule in 14 CFR 61.56(c) lapses on the first day of a month, following its earlier reading of the same language in 14 CFR 61.58. A flight review accomplished April 2, 2002, would not lapse until May 1, 2004.
February 18, 2012
FlightPush Summary
A requester asked whether each aircraft occupant 2 or older needs an individual seat belt under 14 CFR 91.205(b)(13). The FAA said no: occupants may share an approved safety belt if each is securely restrained, but only within the Airplane Flight Manual's limitations, and the PIC must check, if the information is available, that the belt is rated for such use and seat strength is not exceeded.
October 16, 2012
FlightPush Summary
Asked about AirTran flight attendant manual procedures under 14 CFR 121.137(b), the FAA referred the question to the Southwest-AirTran Transition Plan's manual approval process. It restated that crewmembers issued personal manuals must keep them current and carry them, and that sharing one copy among flight attendants does not comply.
November 30, 2012
FlightPush Summary
An airman's attorney sought removal of all records of a random alcohol test he called invalid. DOT and the FAA found no basis to cancel the test under 49 CFR 40.267 or 40.269, so the airman must complete the return-to-duty process before safety-sensitive work. The FAA had separately expunged references to an Emergency Order of Revocation from his FAA airman and medical records.
May 4, 2012
FlightPush Summary
ALPA asked whether a carrier could keep a two-pilot crew after substituting a slower Boeing 757 that made a London-Newark flight 8 hours 30 minutes. The FAA said no: 14 CFR 121.481(a) limits two-pilot flag crews to 8 hours, the aircraft swap was within the carrier's control, and the flight needed an augmented crew under 14 CFR 121.483(b).
November 22, 2012
FlightPush Summary
The Air Line Pilots Association asked how the beyond-control exception in 14 CFR 121.471(g) applies to rest and flight time. The FAA said it covers only flight time: a pilot may not depart on a segment known to infringe the 24-hour rest of 14 CFR 121.471(d), superseding a 1991 interpretation, but may exceed the flag 32-hour limit of 14 CFR 121.481(d).
July 27, 2012
FlightPush Summary
MONOC asked whether it could bill patients for medical services on New Jersey's public EMS helicopter flights. The FAA said patients are qualified non-crewmembers because the rescue is a governmental function, but any charge to patients or insurers makes the flight commercial; the state must pay MONOC from its own funds.
May 14, 2012
FlightPush Summary
STAT MedEvac asked whether part 135 air carriers may agree to share weather turndown information through weatherturndown.com. The FAA said nothing in its regulations prohibits the arrangement, but unless the site is approved by the Administrator or the National Weather Service, it cannot serve as a source of weather reports or forecasts under 14 CFR 135.213(a).
November 13, 2012
FlightPush Summary
A part 135 certificate holder may not require a crewmember to answer its phone call during rest, though one voluntarily answered call is allowed. Delays beyond the operator's control may extend a realistically scheduled duty day under 14 CFR 135.267(d), and 14 CFR 135.63 does not specify what to do with the duplicate load manifest, though the FAA advises operations manual procedures.
February 7, 2012
FlightPush Summary
SkyKnight Air Services asked whether its single-engine Caravans may descend over water beyond gliding distance of shore when ATC assigns 4,000 feet at the DEKAL fix. The FAA said no: the descent is for traffic separation, not necessary for landing under 14 CFR 135.183(b), so the operator must use another route or request a different clearance.
May 3, 2012
FlightPush Summary
The FAA said its July 5, 2011 finding that time spent under an obligation to answer the certificate holder's calls or messages is not rest applies to every rest period, not just 14 CFR 121.485. Rest under any section must be continuous, known in advance, and free from all restraint by the certificate holder.
January 20, 2012
FlightPush Summary
Knauff & Grove, Inc. asked whether glider pilots must set altimeters to MSL or AGL during student training and local flying. The FAA said MSL: under 14 CFR 91.121, transient periods at a particular altitude do not relieve glider pilots of the altimeter-setting requirement, including on student training flights.
July 10, 2012
FlightPush Summary
A flight instructor giving instrument flight training in an aircraft must hold, on the flight instructor certificate, category and class ratings for that aircraft and an instrument rating appropriate to its category. The FAA described this as its consistent interpretation of 14 CFR 61.195(b) and 14 CFR 61.195(c).
March 22, 2012
FlightPush Summary
Beaumont & Son - Aviation at Clyde & Co LLP asked whether a pilot flying on a US certificate issued under 14 CFR 61.75 must also meet UK differences training rules tied to the underlying foreign license. The FAA said no: only limitations shown on the face of the US certificate or foreign license carry over, and the FAA has no differences training requirement for Cirrus aircraft.
August 28, 2012
FlightPush Summary
The FAA reaffirmed that "each interruption to a flight" in 14 CFR 121.705(a) means an interruption from takeoff to landing. Mechanical irregularities during flight time must be logged under 14 CFR 121.563, but only those that interrupt a flight belong in the monthly Mechanical Interruption Summary Report. Any expansion of reporting would be a question for possible rulemaking.
May 7, 2012
FlightPush Summary
Teamsters Local 1224 asked whether a pilot who has flown more than 8 hours in 24 consecutive hours may finish the assigned schedule before taking required rest. The FAA said no, relying on its ABX Air interpretation: once such a pilot completes any flight segment, the 16 hours of rest under 14 CFR 121.503(b) cannot be delayed until the previously assigned schedule is done.
November 11, 2012
FlightPush Summary
An individual asked whether an FMS navigational database must be kept current or whether an iPad could replace an inoperative FMS. The FAA said that under 14 CFR 91.213, required equipment, including navigational databases, must be operative unless operated under an approved MEL, and an iPad cannot substitute for required installed equipment.
July 20, 2012
FlightPush Summary
An FAA safety investigator asked whether a Part 135 pilot serving only as second in command in a Learjet may substitute an instrument proficiency check for the annual competency check. The FAA said no: 14 CFR 135.297 applies only to pilots in command, so she needs an annual 14 CFR 135.293 competency check in the Learjet, while her Baron proficiency check can substitute for the Baron competency check.