Legal Interpretations

FlightPush Summary

FAA Flight Standards asked whether 14 CFR part 145 governs certificated repair stations working on parts for foreign-registered aircraft outside 14 CFR part 121 or 135 operations. The FAA said no: part 145 is limited by the scope of 14 CFR part 43, so a repair station doing such work is not exercising its FAA certificate privileges, even if it records the work on FAA Form 8130-3.

FlightPush Summary

A person performing maintenance under 14 CFR 43.13(a) may in many cases use a prior version of a manufacturer's maintenance manual or ICA, because the rule also allows other methods, techniques, and practices acceptable to the Administrator. Repair stations must still keep up-to-date versions of the listed documents and data under 14 CFR 145.109(d).

FlightPush Summary

A U.S. Army controller asked whether he needed extra experience to meet 14 CFR 65.39. The FAA said no: a member of the U.S. Armed Forces who has satisfactorily served as an air traffic control tower operator for at least 6 months meets the experience requirements for a facility rating.

FlightPush Summary

Only a mechanic holding an inspection authorization may perform an annual inspection under 14 CFR 91.409 and approve the aircraft for return to service, even though annual and 100-hour inspections share the same standards. An IA who signs off an annual without inspecting the aircraft would likely violate 14 CFR 43.12(a)(1) by making a false maintenance record entry.

FlightPush Summary

Bombardier Learjet asked whether pilots may check tire pressure on the Learjet Model 60. The FAA said the task is preventive maintenance, not a preflight inspection item, because of the high pressures and calibrated gauge involved, so a pilot may do it under 14 CFR 43.3(g) when operating under part 91 but not under part 135, absent an exemption.

FlightPush Summary

Dassault Aircraft Services asked whether a person completing a required inspection must check airworthiness directive status. The FAA said yes: even when following a manufacturer's inspection program, the inspector must determine whether the aircraft meets all applicable airworthiness requirements and cannot certify it airworthy under 14 CFR 43.11(a)(4) without assuring all applicable ADs have been complied with.

FlightPush Summary

The owner of NDT Traveler Services, an A&P mechanic, asked whether he needs a repair station certificate to perform and sign off nondestructive testing. The FAA said no: NDT inspection is maintenance, which an appropriately rated, trained, and qualified mechanic may perform under 14 CFR 65.81. Flight Standards noted some manufacturers require added qualifications such as Level II certification, which it found no current record of.

FlightPush Summary

An FAA field office asked whether foreign repair stations must still show a need for their certificate when it is renewed. The FAA said the showing-of-need requirement in 14 CFR 145.51(c) is a continuing obligation, not just an initial-application requirement, though it should be applied with some flexibility and not arbitrarily.

FlightPush Summary

An individual asked about renewing an inspection authorization (IA). The FAA said a renewal applicant must again meet 14 CFR 65.91(c)(1) through (4) under 14 CFR 65.93, and that time spent building amateur-built or kit aircraft cannot count toward 14 CFR 65.83 recent experience or the "actively engaged" requirement; later maintenance on such aircraft is judged case by case.

FlightPush Summary

A repair station with a limited rating that keeps a capability list may add an article within its ratings after its own self-evaluation, without a PMI visit or pre-approval, and must send the revised list to its certificate holding district office. Articles outside its ratings need an additional limited rating approved by the FAA.

FlightPush Summary

Stevens Aviation, Inc. asked whether its six separately certificated repair stations could share tools. The FAA said each station must independently have the required equipment on its premises and in its possession or control under 14 CFR 145.47 and 14 CFR 145.49. Leasing can work with ongoing control and possession, but passing equipment between certificate holders on temporary or intermittent loans does not.

FlightPush Summary

An IA holder with Midcoast Little Rock, Inc. asked whether three major repairs and five major alterations qualified for IA renewal. The FAA said yes: 14 CFR 65.93(a)(2) is met by any combination of major repairs and major alterations totaling eight during the previous year, performed in any quarter or quarters.

FlightPush Summary

When the only designated PIC on an augmented flight becomes too fatigued to safely continue to the destination, the PIC must declare an emergency and land at the nearest suitable location, because 14 CFR 117.5(c) requires the certificate holder to immediately end that PIC's flight duty period. Assigning more than one PIC before takeoff is one option the FAA said would let such a flight continue.

FlightPush Summary

West Coast Aviation Services asked whether a pilot who flew single-pilot flights could then use the 10-hour two-pilot limit for a later two-pilot flight. The FAA said no: having missed the fatigue-mitigating benefit of a two-pilot crew earlier, the pilot remains under the one-pilot limit of eight hours in 24 consecutive hours under 14 CFR 135.267(b)(1).

FlightPush Summary

JetBlue Airways Corporation asked whether pilots who commute on its flights are on duty when expected to help with five to ten minutes of light cleaning. The FAA said de minimis cleaning required during voluntary commuting is not duty under 14 CFR part 117, but required activities that significantly contribute to fatigue, such as baggage handling or strenuous cleaning, could be.

FlightPush Summary

A Hawaiian Airlines pilot asked which part 117 limits apply when an unaugmented assignment becomes an augmented one after the flight duty period starts but before any flight. The FAA said it is not a mixed operation: Table A flight time limits do not apply and Table C augmented FDP limits do, but FDP time already accrued counts toward that pilot's individual limit.

FlightPush Summary

A requester asked whether 14 CFR 121.523(c) depends on flight time or duty time for a supplemental cargo crew on duty 30 hours. The FAA said duty time: any crewmember on continuous duty over 24 hours needs 16 hours of rest, regardless of flight time, and it reversed a conflicting 2015 footnote.

FlightPush Summary

A crewmember who meets the 14 CFR 117.25(d) travel conditions but goes straight from a passenger assignment to an all-cargo part 121 assignment does not need the 56-hour rest first, because that rest is triggered only on return to home base. On returning home after the cargo trip, 14 CFR part 117 limits do not apply, but the 56-hour rest is required if the next assignment carries passengers.

FlightPush Summary

Training required by the carrier counts as duty, but the 30-hour rest required by 14 CFR 117.25(b) applies only before a pilot begins a reserve or flight duty period. Ground school and simulator training that are not part of a flight duty period do not by themselves trigger that rest requirement.

FlightPush Summary

Reconsidering a 2015 interpretation, the FAA said a pilot on an augmented flight may affirm fitness for duty under 14 CFR 117.5(d) while counting on a reasonable expectation of in-flight rest, and the same applies to a relief pilot. The pilot must keep reassessing fitness and, if too fatigued to land safely with no rested pilot available, should declare an emergency and land at the nearest suitable location.

FlightPush Summary

KaiserAir asked how an augmented crew can meet the two-hour in-flight rest requirement of 14 CFR 117.17(c)(1) when flights are short. The FAA said a crew whose flights are too short for in-flight rest is not an augmented flightcrew and cannot use Table C limits. Where a crew is augmented, only the pilot landing the final segment needs the two-hour rest in the second half of the duty period.

FlightPush Summary

A helicopter air ambulance pilot asked how 14 CFR 135.267(c) limits flight and duty time. The FAA said flight time within a duty period is capped at 8 or 10 hours, exceeding it for reasons beyond control triggers extra rest under 14 CFR 135.267(e), and the 14-hour duty period cannot be extended except for unanticipated en route delays when all segments were reasonably expected to finish in time.

FlightPush Summary

PenAir asked whether crews moving aircraft into a hangar after their last scheduled flight are within their flight duty period, and whether an FDP extension can cover it. Repositioning the same or another aircraft is part of the FDP under 14 CFR 117.3, but no 14 CFR 117.19 extension may be used for repositioning after landing.

FlightPush Summary

An FAA Flight Standards Division asked whether voluntarily added flight attendants on small part 135 aircraft are covered by 14 CFR 135.273. The FAA said yes, if they perform cabin-safety-related duties: the rule's flight attendant definition includes crew assigned beyond the minimum complement, and a contrary-seeming preamble statement does not override the regulatory text.

FlightPush Summary

SevenBar Aviation asked whether 14 CFR 135.267(b)'s flexibility for unforeseen circumstances also applies to crews on regularly assigned 14-hour duty periods under 14 CFR 135.267(c). The FAA said no: the 14-hour limit is rigid, except for unexpected en route delays on flights reasonably anticipated to finish in time. Operators whose duty end times vary regularly must operate under 14 CFR 135.267(b).

FlightPush Summary

Under 14 CFR 117.5, there is no fixed number of hours awake that makes a flightcrew member unfit; each must individually determine whether he or she can perform assigned duties at the highest level of safety, weighing time awake and other factors. The same standard applies to nighttime and daytime flight duty periods, though 14 CFR part 117 adds certain nighttime restrictions.

FlightPush Summary

A requester asked how the two-hour in-flight rest rule of 14 CFR 117.17(c)(1) applies to augmented flights with several landings in one flight duty period. The FAA said it applies only to the pilot flying the final landing, who must have two consecutive hours of rest available in the second half of the period; the monitoring pilot needs 90 consecutive minutes under 14 CFR 117.17(c)(2).

FlightPush Summary

ALPA asked whether a pilot may accept a second over-30-minute flight duty period extension before takeoff without 30 hours of rest. The FAA said 14 CFR 117.19(a)(2) is triggered only when an over-30-minute extension actually occurs, not when one is requested or agreed to, so multiple extensions up to 2 hours may be requested before takeoff.

FlightPush Summary

A part 121 supplemental captain asked whether a two-hour duty extension violated the 14 CFR 117.25(b) rest rule and whether a PIC is liable for flight attendant duty violations. The FAA said the extension does not violate 14 CFR 117.25(b) if rest was met when the duty period began, and a PIC cannot be charged under 14 CFR 121.467 but must not knowingly operate a noncompliant flight.

FlightPush Summary

A captain asked whether a flightcrew member must report rested for the longest flight duty period that could be assigned or only the one actually assigned. The FAA said only the assigned period, with a duty to reassess fitness if the period lengthens. Certificate holders may adopt stricter rest policies, which they monitor and enforce themselves.

FlightPush Summary

A requester asked whether a pilot who lists available days and is not called between Monday and Thursday is in rest under 14 CFR 135.267(b) and (d). The FAA said it depends on whether the rest was known in advance, continuous, and free from all restraint, which the scenario did not show. It added that the one phone call analysis applies to returning missed calls.

FlightPush Summary

An Atlas Pilots committee member asked how flag-operation rest under 14 CFR 121.485(b) is computed and whether it can be taken during a company-paid commute home. The FAA said rest is twice the hours flown in crews of three or more pilots plus an additional crewmember, and a voluntary commute is not deadhead and does not count against rest, though the pilot must still obtain sufficient pre-duty sleep.

FlightPush Summary

A pilot asked whether the landing pilot in a three-pilot crew must take an in-flight rest break even when the pilot would rather not. The FAA said yes: 14 CFR 117.17(c)(1) requires two consecutive hours of rest in the second half of the flight duty period for the landing pilot, regardless of crew size or personal choice.

FlightPush Summary

Allegiant Travel Company asked whether post-flight random drug and alcohol testing counts as duty or rest under 14 CFR part 117. The FAA said testing after the day's flying is neither part of the flight duty period nor rest, because the pilot is not free from all restraint; the conclusion does not apply to testing before or between segments.

FlightPush Summary

A requester asked what duty limits apply to two-, three-, and four-pilot all-cargo crews under the international rules of 14 CFR part 121, subpart S. The FAA said two-pilot crews fall under 14 CFR 121.503 and 14 CFR 121.505 (16 hours maximum daily duty), three-pilot crews under 14 CFR 121.521, and four-pilot crews under 14 CFR 121.523 (30 hours continuous duty), reversing part of its Whitaker interpretation.

FlightPush Summary

An individual asked whether completing required distance-learning training during a 14 CFR part 117 rest period interrupts rest. The FAA said training a crew member chooses to do during rest is voluntary and does not interrupt it, but training the crew member cannot complete outside rest does. Either way, 14 CFR 117.5 requires reporting for a flight duty period rested and prepared.

FlightPush Summary

Compensatory rest under 14 CFR 117.25(g) depends only on the length of the deadhead, so 10 hours of deadhead after a flight duty period does not require 20 hours of rest. The FAA also explained when aircraft deadhead begins and ends, when rest begins after a tow, and that 30-hour rest under 14 CFR 117.25(b) precedes only reserve or flight duty periods.

FlightPush Summary

A Part 135 flightcrew member asked whether a "rolling rest" policy, under which pilots stay on call after a 10-hour rest, meets 14 CFR 135.267. The FAA said no: rest must be continuous, known in advance, and free from all restraint, so the pilot lacked the 10-hour look-back rest required by 14 CFR 135.267(d). Violations may be reported by formal complaint or the FAA Safety Hotline.

FlightPush Summary

Japek Flightcrew Management asked how 14 CFR part 117 sleep opportunity and fitness-for-duty rules apply when sleep is disrupted or a pilot plans to sleep in flight. The FAA said a 10-hour rest with an 8-hour sleep opportunity satisfies 14 CFR 117.25(e) even if sleep is disrupted, but a pilot must actually be fit when affirming fitness under 14 CFR 117.5(d), not conditionally on later sleep.

FlightPush Summary

A representative of a Part 135 on-demand carrier asked about flight and duty limits for three-pilot crews. The FAA said augmented crews must follow 14 CFR 135.269, including its adequate sleeping facilities requirement, so a three-pilot crew cannot fly under 14 CFR 135.267 in an aircraft without them, and time aloft does not count as rest unless the transportation is local in character.

FlightPush Summary

Under 14 CFR 117.5(d), a flightcrew member must affirm fitness for duty before each flight segment of a flight duty period, not only at the start. The FAA said the requester's acclimation and rest-facility points did not seek a legal interpretation, and that changes to 14 CFR part 117 would require notice-and-comment rulemaking.

FlightPush Summary

The Air Line Pilots Association asked several questions about FDP extensions and cumulative limits under 14 CFR part 117. The FAA said every extension requires concurrence of the PIC and certificate holder when the need is known; delay holds, reserve time awaiting a post-flight check-in, and airport standby count toward cumulative FDP limits, but deadhead after the last flight segment does not.

FlightPush Summary

ALPA asked what counts as an "unforeseen operational circumstance" for extending a flight duty period under 14 CFR 117.19(a). The FAA said the definition requires an unplanned event that actually occurs and is too short to allow schedule adjustments, and that whether an event qualifies is a fact-specific determination with no set timeframe.

FlightPush Summary

An airline transport pilot asked how the 2-hour extension in 14 CFR 117.19 affects the short-call reserve limit in 14 CFR 117.21(c)(3). The FAA said the extension is added directly to the applicable combined limit; in the scenario, the 16-hour limit from a 0400 reserve start becomes 18 hours, so a flight duty period ending at 2100 would comply, assuming the 14 CFR 117.19(a) conditions are met.

FlightPush Summary

Teamsters Local Union No. 357 asked how 14 CFR part 117 governs a PIC's refusal of a flight duty period extension. The FAA said the rule is silent on how concurrence is reached, so a carrier may ask the PIC's reasons and the PIC may decline to answer; status changes and discipline are left to the employment relationship, but no extension may be taken without the PIC's concurrence.

FlightPush Summary

Teamsters Local Union No. 357 asked whether part 117 limits apply to check pilots evaluating from the jump seat. The FAA said it depends on whether the check pilot has control, authority, and responsibility over the flight's safety; if not, those segments do not count against Table A but can count toward Table B when they come before or between segments the check pilot flies.

FlightPush Summary

A requester asked whether split duty can be assigned during airport/standby reserve, given 14 CFR 117.15(c) requires split duty rest to be scheduled before the flight duty period begins. The FAA said yes: the assignment is prospective as long as the flightcrew member knows, before the first flight segment, when the split duty rest will be taken.

FlightPush Summary

An ExpressJet first officer asked whether part 117 short-call reserve limits can be extended and when rest is owed before long-call reserve. The FAA said the limits can be extended under 14 CFR 117.19 or 14 CFR 117.29, subject to their conditions. On long-call reserve, a crewmember can be required to answer the phone for an assignment notice, but must then get the required rest before the flight duty period.