Legal Interpretations

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Flight Standards asked whether restricted category aircraft certificated for aerial dispensing of liquids may carry firefighters who will fight fires from the ground. The FAA said no: those firefighters are not part of the aircraft's special purpose under 14 CFR 91.313(d), the aerial work exception in 14 CFR 119.1(e)(4)(iv) does not cover such transportation, and a contrary 1999 regional opinion does not align with FAA interpretations.

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Flight Standards asked whether 49 U.S.C. 44735(b)(4), which shields data produced for "developing and implementing" a safety management system, still protects data once a part 121 carrier's SMS is in place. The Chief Counsel's office said yes: the phrase covers ongoing development and implementation, so such data is protected if voluntarily submitted and not otherwise required by law.

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sUAS News asked whether UAS test sites may be paid to let businesses fly under their public aircraft authority. The FAA said a test site may not be compensated for a flight it conducts as a public aircraft operation, and flights failing that statute need civil authority. Leased aircraft must be exclusively used by the government for 90 days, or the operations lose public status.

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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.

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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.

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The FAA's Chief Counsel concluded that 14 CFR part 36 noise standards do not apply to type certification of a new supersonic aircraft, since they cover only subsonic airplanes and the Concorde. The FAA must still set noise standards for such an aircraft through rulemaking under 49 U.S.C. 44715, and 14 CFR 91.817 continues to bar supersonic flight over land in the United States.

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Spartan College asked whether spin training in its part 141 courses requires parachutes under 14 CFR 91.307(c). The FAA said no when the training is given by a certificated flight instructor: under 14 CFR 91.307(d), maneuvers required for any certificate or rating may be taught without parachutes even if the student's certificate does not require them. It rejected treating students as crewmembers.

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Maui Helicopter Academy asked whether Hawaii air tours may go beyond gliding distance of shore in a helicopter without floats. The FAA said yes for single-engine helicopters under 14 CFR part 91, 121, or 135, because appendix A to 14 CFR part 136 allows operations beyond the shore when each person on board wears approved flotation gear.

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A law firm asked whether a seller of off-the-shelf electronics to a launch licensee's contractor must sign a reciprocal waiver of claims. The FAA said such a vendor, with no involvement in launch or reentry, is unlikely to be able to bring a claim, but the licensee and its contractors are best placed to decide, since they must indemnify claims from parties that could claim but did not sign.

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Records of a pilot's release from employment kept under 14 CFR 121.683 must be requested and received under PRIA regardless of whether they relate to performance as a pilot. Under the separate "performance as a pilot" catch-all, records are included to the extent the pilot's behavior directly disrupts safe aircraft operations, per the FAA's 2014 Lorenzon interpretation.

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Boeing's space exploration counsel asked whether space flight participants must waive claims against launch licensees after the 2015 Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act. The FAA said yes, honoring the statute even though its regulations do not require it. Participants must also waive claims for their heirs, and agreements should resemble the 14 CFR part 440 Appendix E templates but be tailored to the parties.

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McMahon Helicopter Services argued that FAA guidance calling for an instrument approach on rotorcraft competency checks conflicts with 14 CFR 135.293(c). The FAA agreed the rule does not specifically require an approach but found no conflict: if the rotorcraft is so equipped, the POI may include an instrument approach in the instrument competency check.

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REJ Aviation Services asked whether a helium envelope's lift reduces a small drone's takeoff weight under 14 CFR 107.3. The FAA said no: takeoff weight is total mass, including the helium, so a 54-pound aircraft still weighs at least 54 pounds. Buoyancy can still support a waiver request for part 107 operational restrictions.

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A Part 135 on-demand charter pilot on call at home who must report if contacted is on duty, not resting. The standby must be scheduled with on and off duty times, duty starts when the standby shift starts, and the 10-hour prospective rest requirement of 14 CFR 135.267(d) limits when standby can be scheduled or revised.

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The FAA agreed with its Aircraft Registry that a Piper PA-18 reported destroyed, and still unrepaired and disassembled, cannot be registered. Unassembled parts are not an aircraft for registration purposes, and a destroyed aircraft must be repaired before it can return to the registry. Its airworthiness certificate became ineffective when its registration ended.

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A recreational pilot asked whether a recreational pilot may perform preventive maintenance on the pilot's own aircraft. The FAA said yes under 14 CFR 43.3(g), but because 14 CFR 43.7(f) requires at least a private pilot certificate to approve such work for return to service, the aircraft may not be operated under 14 CFR 91.407(a)(1) until an authorized person approves it.

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FlyRight, a part 142 training center, asked whether its simulator instructors and check airmen could meet their 12-month two-flight-segment requirement in a light piston twin. The FAA said no: the segments must be flown in the same type, or if no type rating applies, the same class and category. It declined to reconsider its 2014 interpretation.

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AOPA asked the FAA to resolve an apparent conflict among its interpretations on counting instrument-rating training toward the commercial pilot's five hours of instrument training. The FAA found no conflict: such training counts only if it actually meets 14 CFR 61.129(c)(3)(i), and it must be logged under 14 CFR 61.51 and documented to show it counts toward the commercial certificate. The answer applies to airplane and helicopter training.

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The Aircraft Electronics Association asked what "inspected" means in 14 CFR 91.405(c). The FAA said an inoperative item that is not repaired, replaced, or removed must be reevaluated at each required inspection, and that may continue indefinitely if documented each time. The item must be placarded, and equipment listed in 14 CFR 91.213(d)(2) must be operative.

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Dynamic Aviation - Helicopters asked whether helicopter chasing of wild cows and horses for an Indian tribe is aerial work. The FAA said it is closely relatable to bird chasing under 14 CFR 119.1(e)(4)(i) and could be conducted under 14 CFR part 91 if the other aerial work criteria are met, but it lacked enough information to decide whether they were.

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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.

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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.

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Watermakers Air asked whether another Part 135 on-demand carrier could fly its scheduled operations, and which rest rules apply to pilots flying both kinds of flights. The FAA said the substitute must hold the same operations authority, except that passengers stranded by cancelled scheduled flights may be flown under on-demand rules. Pilots must meet each operation's limits, or the operator may, with amended operations specifications, use scheduled rules for all.

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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.

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The FAA affirmed its reading of 14 CFR 91.185(c)(3)(ii). A pilot who loses two-way radio communication and reaches the destination clearance limit early should hold at the approach fix and begin descent and approach as close as possible to the estimated time of arrival; an operable transponder is not a substitute for two-way communication.

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A line check airman asked when the observation to extend a pilot's 120-day consolidation period to 150 days under 14 CFR 121.434(h)(4) must occur. The FAA said near the end of the 120-day period, not based on observations from operating experience months earlier. If consolidation is not completed by day 120 or 150, accumulated consolidation flight time reverts to zero.

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Blue Line Aviation asked whether rental aircraft used for renter checkouts need 100-hour inspections if the school does not charge for the instructor. The FAA said a checkout with flight training triggers 14 CFR 91.409(b) when the school provides the aircraft and instructor and receives compensation, and bundling the instructor's cost into rental or membership fees does not avoid it.

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A flight instructor giving multiengine training to a pilot without a multiengine rating must act as pilot in command and needs a third class medical certificate unless operating under BasicMed. Instrument instruction cannot be given from a jump seat or passenger seat; the instructor must occupy a pilot station with access to the controls.

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A requester argued that nothing prohibits flying a gyroplane under IFR or below VFR minimums. The FAA disagreed: 14 CFR 61.3(e) prohibits it because none of its certificate and rating requirements address gyroplanes, the lack of gyroplane instrument ratings does not change that, and no gyroplane is type certificated for IFR, so such a flight would violate both 14 CFR 61.3(e) and 14 CFR 91.9(a).

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Forza Business Strategies, Inc. asked whether a private heliport owner could stop part 107 drone flights over the neighboring lot. The FAA said no, because airport owners may not regulate the airspace above and near their airports, but the remote pilot must not interfere with heliport operations or traffic patterns and must yield right of way to helicopters using the heliport.

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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.

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A former principal operations inspector may be hired as a check pilot by the part 135 certificate holder he or she oversaw, because 14 CFR 119.73 restricts only acting as the operator's agent or representative before the FAA. The check pilot must not make written or oral communications to the FAA on the operator's behalf.

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14 CFR 135.339 does not require a separate observation check for each aircraft family a check airman serves in; one observed check within 24 calendar months is the minimum. FAA inspectors may still require additional observation checks before approval, and likely will when the new aircraft family has little in common with the one already observed.

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A part 145 repair station does not violate 14 CFR 43.13(a) by following a prior version of a manufacturer's maintenance manual that remains acceptable to the FAA, though "current" means the latest version in effect. Even so, 14 CFR 145.109(d) requires the station to keep the latest version accessible when the work is performed.

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Manufacturer additions to maintenance manuals or ICA are generally not mandatory for part 91 or part 135 operators if other acceptable methods are used. They become mandatory through the FAA-approved Airworthiness Limitations section, an AD or other FAA rule, or the operator's inspection or maintenance program. A TBO in a manual is not mandatory by itself.

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Era Helicopters asked whether the night visual reference rule in 14 CFR 135.207 applies during the brief instrument-only acceleration after an IFR departure from an offshore helideck. The FAA said no, because that rule applies only to VFR. The helicopter is proceeding visually under its IFR clearance during this transition, and the flight manual's Vmini limitation does not bar instrument-only control.

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A requester argued that an LLC wholly owned and solely managed by one person is indistinguishable from that person and could fly the owner and guests under 14 CFR 91.501(b)(4). The FAA disagreed: LLCs are treated as corporations under that rule, the Member is not the operator, and the Member's capital contributions covering aircraft costs are compensation, so the operation is not permissible.

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A requester sought reconsideration of how PIC time is logged under 14 CFR 61.51(e)(1)(iv). The FAA reaffirmed that all four conditions must be met, including holding a commercial or ATP certificate, being in an approved PIC training program, and having a qualified supervising PIC log and certify the time.

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Air Cargo Carriers argued that manufacturer life limits referenced in its Shorts airplanes' type certificate data sheet were not mandatory. The FAA said they are mandatory for this carrier because its FAA-approved aircraft inspection program under 14 CFR 135.419 requires life-limited items to be replaced per Chapter 5 of the maintenance manual, and the 2015 Williams interpretation, about a part 91 aircraft, does not apply.

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Flight Standards asked whether manufacturer service bulletins and similar documents are mandatory for Part 135 operators using a manufacturer's maintenance program under 14 CFR 135.421. The FAA said yes for documents in effect when the program was adopted, but later ones bind only if the operator adopted the current program without a set date. A manufacturer's 'mandatory' label alone has no regulatory effect.

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EASA-approved repair design data for minor repairs is accepted as FAA-approved without further review when the TIP criteria are met. TIP Revision 5 (September 15, 2015 to September 22, 2017) and Revision 6, which superseded it, give essentially the same result. The FAA also noted its regulations do not require minor repairs to follow FAA-approved data.

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The Aeronautical Repair Station Association asked whether employees who receive parts for stock are safety-sensitive under the drug and alcohol testing rules. The FAA said no: inspecting packaging, verifying sources, and matching parts to purchase orders are not maintenance or preventive maintenance, so these employees are not safety-sensitive under 14 CFR part 120 and should not be in the testing pool.

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A company owner asked whether a company that does no charter work could build a primary kit-built rotorcraft under an experimental certificate and fly it for company business. The FAA said yes, if it carries no persons or property for compensation or hire and complies with 14 CFR 91.319 and its operating limitations, cautioning that compliance depends on the facts of each operation.

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A requester asked whether part 91 rules let an aircraft fly indefinitely with inoperative equipment. The FAA said no: 14 CFR 91.213(d)(2) must be read with the rest of 14 CFR 91.213(d), and 14 CFR 91.405(c) requires inoperative items allowed under it to be repaired, replaced, removed, or inspected at the next required inspection.

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Pacific States Aviation asked whether its repair station may fabricate parts for its own repairs when the type certificate holder sells them. The FAA said yes under 14 CFR 21.9(a)(6), if the parts are fabricated under an acceptable quality system and consumed in the maintenance for which they are made; availability from the type certificate holder is irrelevant, but separate sale requires a PMA.

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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.

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A business entity that lacks or has lost legal status in its state of incorporation is neither eligible to register an aircraft nor to operate it. The Civil Aviation Registry relies on the entity's own certification rather than checking its status, but the owner could face enforcement action.

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A flight instructor asked whether discovery and introductory flights for people not seeking a pilot certificate fall under the 14 CFR 119.1(e) exceptions. The FAA said they are unlikely to be student instruction or training flights, but may qualify as nonstop commercial air tours if they meet the definition and conditions, including a Letter of Authorization under 14 CFR 91.147.