Legal Interpretations

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Mexmil Global Services asked whether its tray table repairs, which replace most original parts with fabricated ones, are maintenance or manufacturing. The FAA declined to decide, saying the question is fact-specific, and referred it to Flight Standards, noting that parts fabricated for use in a repair under AC 43-18 are permissible but parts sold separately require a PMA under 14 CFR 21.303(a).

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A requester asked whether the two individual owners of a multi-company aircraft ownership structure could be treated as "parents" under 14 CFR 91.501(b). The FAA said no: "parent" refers to a corporate parent and subsidiary, so even a single individual owner would not qualify. The FAA referred related MEL and RVSM approval questions to Flight Standards Service.

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A requester asked about servers and flight attendants on a nine-passenger Part 135 aircraft. The FAA said no flight attendant is required, a server limited to non-safety duties needs no flight attendant training, and a server assigned in-flight duties may be treated as a crewmember and use the jumpseat, subject to crewmember rules.

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A part 121 all-cargo flight from JFK to Newark to Frankfurt keeps its international character under 14 CFR 121.521 if Newark is only a fuel stop. Even if cargo is loaded at Newark, making the first leg a U.S.-mainland flight under 14 CFR 121.513, no safety rule bars carrying the additional airman on that leg.

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A requester asked whether an instrument rating cross-country flight under 14 CFR 61.1(b)(3) needs a leg longer than 50 nautical miles. The FAA said no specific leg must be that long, but the flight must include a landing more than 50 nautical miles in a straight line from the flight's original point of departure.

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Central Flying Service asked whether a repair station could hold a limited rating to perform flammability testing. The FAA said no, because the testing determines compliance with design standards rather than being part 43 maintenance. Test data is approved by FAA designees, mainly DERs, and organizations may perform the testing under an STC or MRA ODA.

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A requester asked how a dispatcher who wrote a new air carrier's competency check could fairly take it. The FAA said 14 CFR 121.422(b) requires the check to be given by another supervisory dispatcher or dispatcher ground instructor, who must administer and grade it and may change some variables to make it more challenging for the author.

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A part 135 operator asked whether the FAA's 1991 reading of adequate sleeping facilities under 14 CFR 135.269(b)(5) still applies. It does: the phrase generally means a bunk or berth, not a reclining seat, judged case by case. A formal determination for a specific aircraft goes to the FAA Long Beach Aircraft Evaluation Group.

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A flight school asked whether CFI applicants may get right-seat proficient with a "junior" instructor before training with a "senior" instructor. The FAA said yes, but that preparation cannot replace or shorten the full initial training a first-time applicant must receive from an instructor qualified under 14 CFR 61.195(h).

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Aviation Law Experts, LLC asked whether a Part 135 manual may be provided electronically to maintenance and ground personnel. The FAA said yes, if the manual includes such procedures, the Principal Operations Inspector accepts them, and personnel have the technology to view the applicable portions at and away from the main base.

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The Association of Flight Attendants asked whether a flight must be discontinued whenever an aircraft no longer meets its original design standards. The FAA said not always: a properly inspected and maintained in-service aircraft should substantially conform to its type certificate despite wear and minor defects, and maintenance under 14 CFR 43.13 need not restore an aircraft to new condition.

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A requester asked whether a newly rated instrument pilot must immediately meet the instrument recent experience requirements of 14 CFR 61.57(c). The FAA said no: the six-calendar-month period begins when the pilot passes the practical test, much as an instrument proficiency check under 14 CFR 61.57(d) restarts the clock.

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Any worker, including a contractor or day worker, who loads or handles hazardous materials for a part 121 carrier must have hazmat training under 14 CFR part 121, subpart Z unless the 30-day supervised exception applies. Unloading alone is not a covered job function, and workers who perform none of the listed functions need no training.

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NetJets asked whether a pilot who failed a pilot in command line check after obtaining a new type rating may still serve as a flight crewmember under 14 CFR part 135. The FAA said no: under 14 CFR 135.301(b), the pilot may not serve as a flight crewmember until passing a pilot in command line check in an aircraft the operator designates, which may be the former or new aircraft.

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A Polar Air pilot and an ALPA attorney asked how 14 CFR 121.485(b) rest applies to flights with fewer than three pilots and to crews returned to a non-home base. The FAA said only flights requiring three or more pilots plus an additional crewmember count, and crews must get the full rest at home base unless it was all given at once at an appropriate alternative U.S. base.

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Capital Cargo International Airlines asked whether 'authorized minimums' in 14 CFR 121.613 mean ceiling and visibility or visibility alone. The FAA said both must be met at the destination. It also attached earlier interpretations holding that forecasts of 'occasionally,' 'intermittently,' 'briefly,' or 'a chance of' below-minimum conditions at the ETA do not satisfy 14 CFR 121.613.

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An individual asked whether 14 CFR 121.471(g) lets a flight crewmember exceed flight time limitations only to return to a hub or base, since the rule says "destination" in the singular. The FAA said that reading is incorrect and that no FAA interpretation it knows of imposes such a restriction.

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Moore & Van Allen PLLC asked whether an LLC flying only its owner, family, and guests, funded by the owner, could operate under 14 CFR part 91. The FAA said no: the LLC is a flight department company, the owner's payments are compensation, and 14 CFR 91.501(b)(4) applies only to individual owners, so certification under 14 CFR part 119 is required unless part 125 applies.

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Whether a contract pilot can fly a client's leased airplane under part 91 turns on operational control. A true dry lease where the lessee accepts responsibility for the flight and the pilot may qualify, but a package of aircraft and pilot, or a lessee that disclaims liability for the pilot, makes it a compensation or hire operation requiring a 14 CFR part 135 certificate.

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A network of individual private airplane owners cannot use 14 CFR 91.501(b)(5) or an interchange agreement under 14 CFR 91.501(b)(6) to fly each other, because both provisions apply only to companies. The FAA said it does not help design business arrangements to meet those sections.

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Swanson & Johnson asked whether its client must fly part 135 air ambulance operations to provide NVG training to air ambulance operators. The FAA said no: the guidance lets a part 135 operator train another with the same type of operations specifications, such as on-demand, if the NVG instructor is qualified in that aircraft and works for an operator of the same type, consistent with 14 CFR 135.324.

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An individual asked whether helicopter ground time with the engine running and rotors turning, before moving or after coming to rest, counts as flight time. It does not: under 14 CFR 1.1, flight time starts when the helicopter moves under its own power for flight and ends when it comes to rest after landing.

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Pan Am International Flight Academy asked whether the commercial pilot cross-country flights in 14 CFR 61.129 must be two hours away from the departure point. The FAA said no: the 2 hours is the minimum length of the whole flight, and the more-than-100-nautical-mile straight-line distance sets how far from the original point of departure the flight must go.

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Pan Am International Flight Academy asked whether others may ride along while a commercial multiengine applicant logs PIC-duty time with an instructor under 14 CFR 61.129(b)(4). The FAA said that time is not solo flight time and the instructor may decide who is aboard, including others permitted for instructional purposes.

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A requester asked whether a pilot who flies a morning trip, is released for 9 hours, then flies an evening return trip has received the rest part 135 requires. The FAA said no: 9 hours does not meet the 10 consecutive hours of rest required by 14 CFR 135.267, though extending the break to 10 hours would start a new duty day and make the schedule permissible.

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U.S. Helicopters asked whether its electronic news gathering helicopter flights for TV stations could be flown under 14 CFR part 91 using the aerial photography exception in 14 CFR 119.1(e)(4)(iii). The FAA said yes, if everyone aboard other than the flight crewmembers is necessary to the aerial work. If a flight becomes dual-purpose, such as by landing at another point, the exception does not apply.

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An individual asked whether earlier FAA interpretations of the quarterly rest rule in 14 CFR 135.267(f) still stand and whether they apply to on-demand charter operators. The FAA said yes to both: rest must be continuous, known in advance, and free from all restraint by the certificate holder, and each flight crewmember must actually receive at least 13 such 24-hour periods every quarter.

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A requester asked the FAA to reconsider its view that U.S.-registered aircraft must observe the 250-knot limit below 10,000 feet MSL beyond 12 NM offshore. The FAA kept its position under 14 CFR 91.703(a)(3) and 14 CFR 91.117(a), noting that Annex 11 sets a similar limit, that the rule lets the FAA authorize higher speeds, and that conflicting FAA orders are under review.

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Answering a question it found too unspecific for a definitive response, the FAA said part 121 all-cargo and charter passenger operations, even within the 48 contiguous states, are supplemental operations subject to the subpart S flight, duty, and rest rules, not the subpart Q domestic rules, which cover certain scheduled passenger operations.

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The Federal Air Surgeon asked whether someone whose medical application was denied by an aviation medical examiner and then treated as withdrawn can fly as a sport pilot on a driver's license. The FAA said no: the withdrawn application counts as the most recent application under 14 CFR 61.23(b) until the person is found eligible for at least a third-class medical certificate.

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A law firm asked whether airships may conduct sightseeing and other operations for hire under 14 CFR part 91. The FAA confirmed they may, provided they comply with 14 CFR part 91, because the commuter and on-demand definitions that trigger 14 CFR part 135 apply only to airplanes and rotorcraft.

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Installing an FAA-approved weather reporting system next to the windsock at Potomac Airfield required notice to the FAA on Form 7460 under 14 CFR part 77, and none of the exceptions in 14 CFR 77.15 applied. The FAA's study did not object to the installation but set conditions, including marking and lighting, an as-built survey, and coordination with FAA airport and air traffic personnel.

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The Air Line Pilots Association asked about pre-duty rest for flag reserve pilots. The FAA said flag rules require rest through the 24-hours-off-in-seven-days rule and intervening rest periods, that reserve time is not rest, and that without onboard sleeping quarters FAA safety experts consider it reckless to let crewmembers be awake 26 hours at landing.

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An individual asked whether part 121 pilots must use TSO-authorized headsets and microphones. The FAA said no rule generally requires it, but a headset cannot replace one specified in the type design, and headsets that are part of required public address or interphone systems must be FAA approved. ANR headsets required by the type design must not lose communications if battery power fails.

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A captain asked when a part 121 carrier may dispatch an extended overwater flight to a destination forecast below minimums. The FAA said it may if the alternate is forecast at or above minimums, subject to 14 CFR 121.631(b). But when a high-minimum pilot in command or degraded equipment raises the minimums, the destination or alternate must be forecast at or above those higher minimums.

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A part 121 charter operator asked whether a contractor's employee used occasionally to load hazmat could work under the 30-day new hire exception in 14 CFR 121.1005(b). The FAA said yes, but the 30 days run from the first day of covered work, apply to the individual only once, and require direct visual supervision by an authorized supervisor trained within the past 24 months.

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The Chief Counsel concluded that only flight training devices using manufacturer-supplied, aircraft-specific flight data, meaning level 6 and 7 FTDs, meet 14 CFR part 142, while any flight simulator level qualifies. Courses conducted primarily in aircraft fall under 14 CFR part 141 pilot school rules, so the inspector correctly applied the regulations.

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A federal prisoner nearing release asked whether there are restrictions on air travel after release. The FAA said it has no regulation prohibiting or limiting recently released former prisoners from using commercial air transportation, and the TSA said it was not aware of any such prohibition.

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An individual asked whether a Teledyne Continental service bulletin requiring a borescope inspection with cylinder compression tests is mandatory for part 91 aircraft. The FAA said no: unless an AD or other regulatory document mandates it, a service bulletin is not mandatory, and an inspection using methods acceptable to the Administrator complies with 14 CFR 43.13(a), though a borescope inspection would be good practice.

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AOPA asked whether an NTSB decision made manufacturer service bulletins mandatory once incorporated into a manual. The FAA said no: the NTSB found the respondent failed to perform a magnetic particle inspection in any manner acceptable to the Administrator under 14 CFR 43.2(a)(2), not that the service instructions themselves were mandatory.

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Asheville Jet Charter and Management asked whether a part 142 training center can have training programs approved under part 121 or part 135. The FAA said no: the programs are approved under part 142 and can only be approved for use by an operator's Principal Operations Inspector, and the center may not advertise them as part 121 or part 135 programs.

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Pratt & Whitney asked whether subcontractors who fabricate repair parts must be drug and alcohol tested. The FAA said fabrication is production, not maintenance, so it is not covered; the repair that uses the part is maintenance and is covered. Non-certificated parts brokers are not covered, and the rules do not apply to maintenance performed outside the U.S.

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After a reduced rest period, an airline flight crewmember's compensatory rest must begin within 24 hours of the start of the reduced rest. If the pilot or carrier knows before a segment departs that compensatory rest will start late, the pilot may not depart on it. A crewmember who knows continuing is not legal may not continue, even if a scheduler or chief pilot says otherwise.

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A part 135 check airman asked whether a pilot may take a recurrent line check before finishing recurrent training, and whether emergency and hazardous materials training can be done by self-study. The FAA said the line check would be inappropriate before training is complete; hazardous materials training could likely be self-study with verification, but emergency training and drills could not.

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A retired Air Force colonel asked whether IFR fuel planning under 14 CFR 91.167 must cover approaches at both the destination and alternate. The FAA said yes: missed approach fuel at the destination counts as landing fuel, and flying to the alternate includes its approach and landing, since changing weather may force a missed approach at the destination.

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A law firm asked whether a company flying a Boeing 727 under a noncommercial part 125 deviation authority could carry a related company's employees on trips for that company's business. The FAA said no: 14 CFR 91.501(b) does not excuse part 125 airplanes from 14 CFR part 125, so Company B must get its own LODA, limited to noncommercial operations without any compensation.

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The 50 hours of cross-country PIC time and 40 hours of actual or simulated instrument time for an instrument rating may be logged concurrently, so the same flights can count toward both. Instrument time counts as cross-country only if it meets the 50-nautical-mile landing definition, and the FAA considered completing all instrument training on cross-country flights unrealistic.

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Before entering Class C airspace, a pilot must establish two-way radio communication with the specific facility responsible for it, the TRACON, not just any ATC facility. A VFR pilot who enters while talking only to a Center violates 14 CFR 91.130(c)(1), because flight following is a courtesy and the pilot in command remains responsible.