Legal Interpretations

FlightPush Summary

A civil contractor conducting a valid public aircraft operation for the Army is not bound by its civil certificate, though rules that apply to all aircraft still apply, and the Army takes responsibility for the operation. The operator need not hold FAA certification for the mission, but armed-forces charters qualify as public aircraft only with a Secretary of Defense national-interest designation.

FlightPush Summary

A single-pilot operator may conduct 14 CFR part 135 commuter operations, defined in 14 CFR 110.2 as at least five scheduled round trips per week, in a single-engine aircraft with nine or fewer passenger seats. The operation must meet 14 CFR part 135 requirements, including an operative approved autopilot authorized by operations specifications and a PIC with at least 100 hours of PIC time in the make and model.

FlightPush Summary

Boston Air Charter asked whether 14 CFR part 91 imposes compliance requirements for NOTAM(D) information. The FAA said NOTAM(D)s are advisory, but 14 CFR 91.103 requires pilots to know the NOTAMs for their flight path, and taking off on a NOTAM-closed runway, absent an emergency, would prompt an FAA investigation under 14 CFR 91.13 and, at a controlled airport, could violate 14 CFR 91.123(a) or (b).

FlightPush Summary

A requester asked whether inspection intervals and replacement times in Beech Baron 58P manuals are mandatory. The FAA said generally not, unless they appear in an FAA-approved Airworthiness Limitations section or an Airworthiness Directive. Maintainers may follow the manuals or other methods acceptable to the FAA, and the required inspections are those in 14 CFR 91.409.

FlightPush Summary

The Parasail Safety Council asked the FAA to reconsider treating parasails as kites. The FAA reaffirmed its 2009 interpretation: a parasail flown at the end of a rope or cable and held aloft by the wind is a kite regulated under 14 CFR part 101, like towed gyrogliders and hang gliders, and operations that cannot comply need a certificate of waiver under 14 CFR 101.3.

FlightPush Summary

A requester asked whether the limitation of liability provision in 49 U.S.C. 44112 covers foreign-registered aircraft. The FAA said yes: the statute uses the term "civil aircraft," meaning any aircraft except a public aircraft, and never refers to "civil aircraft of the United States," so it applies regardless of the state of registry.

FlightPush Summary

Neither CAM 8 guidance nor 14 CFR 137.51(b)(5)(ii) allows overweight operation contrary to an aircraft's Airplane Flight Manual, since 14 CFR 91.9 requires following AFM limitations and 14 CFR part 137 has no exception. The FAA also said a 14 CFR part 137 agricultural operator is not an air carrier.

FlightPush Summary

Western Airways asked whether late passengers or maintenance problems let a Part 135 crew exceed daily flight time limits. The FAA could not answer the 14-hour scenario without knowing the crew's schedule type, but said late passenger or cargo arrivals and maintenance difficulties may be circumstances beyond the certificate holder's control under 14 CFR 135.267(e), if the trip was realistically scheduled.

FlightPush Summary

American Airlines asked whether 86 LaGuardia slots held by its regional affiliate American Eagle could be recorded as American's despite the LaGuardia Order's apparent bar on slot transfers. The FAA agreed, treating the change as a ministerial records amendment rather than a transfer because the mainline carrier controls the slots, and set an effective date of October 30, 2011.

FlightPush Summary

A requester asked whether recurrent academic training that a Part 135 operator lets flightcrew members complete by distance learning on their own time counts as duty. The FAA said yes: completing the certificate holder's training program is assigned work and therefore duty, so it cannot occur during a required rest period under 14 CFR 135.263(b).

FlightPush Summary

A flight instructor without an instrument rating on the flight instructor certificate cannot conduct an IPC under 14 CFR 61.57(d), even one done for the WINGS program. An event supervised by such an instructor is not an IPC, because the check must be administered by specific individuals, including flight instructors with an instrument rating on their flight instructor certificate appropriate to the aircraft category.

FlightPush Summary

A Part 121 certificate holder may furnish its manual to crewmembers electronically, such as a PDF, if crewmembers can view it while performing their duties and an up-to-date paper version is available when necessary. The certificate holder must provide the means to view the electronic manual.

FlightPush Summary

Tanabe Flying Services asked who counts as necessary on an aerial work flight scattering cremated remains. The FAA said a person operating the scattering device and a required park or tribal representative are necessary, but a clergy member aboard only to bless the remains or speak words of remembrance is not, because that need not happen in flight.

FlightPush Summary

A requester asked whether Amendment 91-189 moved the lost-communications holding point under 14 CFR 91.185(c)(3) to the clearance limit. The FAA said no: the amendment retitled the paragraph, a pilot cleared to the destination with no holding instructions should not hold at an unapproved fix, and a clearance limit is also a holding fix when the pilot is instructed to hold there.

FlightPush Summary

Aerial Banners asked whether one owner may run several banner-towing companies, list one aircraft on multiple Certificates of Waiver, and lease aircraft orally. The FAA said common ownership is allowed if operational control is clearly delineated, an aircraft should normally be on only one waiver, and it lacked the facts to decide whether a written lease was required.

FlightPush Summary

A private pilot without an instrument rating who is sole manipulator of the controls in actual IMC, while an instrument-rated pilot acts as PIC, may log both PIC time and actual instrument time for that portion. The acting PIC may not log PIC time for the same portion when only one pilot is required.

FlightPush Summary

Sierra Nevada Corporation asked whether Air Force missions flown by Air Force crews in aircraft it owns and leases to the Air Force are public aircraft operations. The FAA said they appear to be valid Defense Department operations, unaffected by contractor ownership since the company does not operate the aircraft, but noted public aircraft status applies only in U.S. airspace.

FlightPush Summary

The FAA's AST-200 licensing division asked whether launch license and permit applications could be filed electronically only under the "in writing" requirement of 14 CFR 413.7(a). The FAA said no: read with the duty to file in duplicate, the requirement means paper filing. Counsel recommended rulemaking, possibly a direct final rule, to offer an electronic option.

FlightPush Summary

Atlantic Southeast Airlines asked whether one operating certificate could name both it and ExpressJet during their merger. The FAA said it would issue such a certificate when the carriers are committed to a full merger, can meet the applicable rules, have one management team with full operational control, and hold DOT economic authority; the FAA would want it amended once only one entity remains.

FlightPush Summary

A requester with an amateur-built turbine helicopter asked whether an annual condition inspection could replace an approved inspection program. The FAA said no, because 14 CFR 91.409(c) excludes experimental aircraft from the annual inspection option. The builder is considered the manufacturer and may recommend a program under 14 CFR 91.409(f)(3), but it must be FSDO-approved under the aircraft's operating limitations.

FlightPush Summary

General Aviation Modifications, Inc. asked whether the FAA can add requirements to AC 20-24B without notice and comment. Because an advisory circular has no regulatory effect, the FAA said it may add guidance to one without notice and comment as long as the guidance is consistent with the pertinent regulation.

FlightPush Summary

The Boeing Company asked how to determine an airplane's "date of manufacture" under various FAA rules. The FAA declined to give a single calculation: specific regulations may define the date for their own purposes, an earlier required date controls, and otherwise an easily recorded date such as airworthiness certificate issuance can be used. An airplane may have more than one date of manufacture.

FlightPush Summary

Under 14 CFR 133.35(a)(2), a "flight crewmember trainee" who may be carried during rotorcraft external-load operations is a person training to become a pilot, flight engineer, or flight navigator. People training for rescue operations do not qualify under that provision; the FAA pointed to 14 CFR part 11 for petitioning for an exemption.

FlightPush Summary

Charitable donations alone do not cost a law enforcement agency public aircraft status, as long as the donations are unrestricted and each flight otherwise meets the statute. An aircraft operated for a charity's own mission under the charity's control cannot be a public aircraft operation, and the FAA decides status flight by flight rather than for an operator in general.

FlightPush Summary

An FAA-approved course for an additional aircraft category or class rating under 14 CFR part 141, appendix I has no solo flight time requirement. Appendix I's references to appendices A, B, and D require training on their areas of operation, not their solo time, and enrollees already hold the pilot certificate level, including its required solo flight time.

FlightPush Summary

A requester asked whether VFR pilots need a clearance to fly through a "cold" restricted area. The FAA said no: once the controlling or using agency determines the area is cold, VFR aircraft may legally enter and transit it. An ATC statement that the area is cold is not itself a clearance, permission, or authorization under 14 CFR 73.13 and 14 CFR 91.133.

FlightPush Summary

Precision Design Inc. asked the FAA to confirm several views about unregistered aircraft. The FAA agreed registration is required for an airworthiness certificate and that a 100-hour inspection does not transfer with an engine, but said it may inspect any aircraft at any time, ADs apply to unregistered aircraft, and operating rules like 14 CFR 91.7 apply whether or not an aircraft is registered.

FlightPush Summary

An FAA Flight Standards division asked whether it could use a stamp-style electronic signature, which does not track changes, to approve special instrument procedures. The Chief Counsel's office said this is not a legal question, but suggested weighing information security, signature security, and non-repudiation, and consulting the FAA's Office of Information Systems Security.

FlightPush Summary

A manufacturer's SID, such as Cessna's for the Conquest, is not mandatory for an owner who adopted the manufacturer's recommended inspection program before the SID was issued, unless the FAA mandates it through an AD or other rulemaking or requires the revision under 14 CFR 91.415. An owner who chooses to adopt the SID is bound by it, and the FAA cannot delegate grounding power to a manufacturer.

FlightPush Summary

Al's Air Service asked whether airplanes carrying non-jettisonable pheromone dispensers, with empty hoppers, could fly gypsy moth eradication over congested areas. The FAA said the rule does not prohibit it: although the load does not meet the jettison requirement of 14 CFR 137.53(c)(2), the airplanes carry less than half their maximum authorized load, so they would perform at least as well as after jettisoning half.

FlightPush Summary

The age-65 pilot limit in 14 CFR 121.383(d)(1) applies only to operations under the 14 CFR part 121 operating rules. Because it is not triggered until a part 121 operating certificate is issued, an applicant does not have to comply with it during the certification process.

FlightPush Summary

An FAA airworthiness inspector asked whether Delta's non-routine maintenance cards and cabin furnishings records count as the aircraft log under 14 CFR 121.709. The FAA said the term is undefined, but any log must be available in the airplane and accessible to each flightcrew member. Such cards and records identify discrepancies, and a 14 CFR 121.709 log entry is still required after correcting them and before return to service.

FlightPush Summary

An FAA Flight Standards division asked whether AC 43.13-1B can bar use of its methods when manufacturer instructions exist. The Office of the Chief Counsel said that reading is legally incorrect, because 14 CFR 43.13(a) allows other methods acceptable to the Administrator. The AC's methods are generally acceptable for minor repairs on non-pressurized areas unless the manufacturer recommends against them, and the office proposed revised wording.

FlightPush Summary

On the facts given, a Part 135 flight departing under an IFR clearance with a VFR climb is an IFR operation, so the 14 CFR 135.213(a) weather reporting requirements apply. A composite clearance, VFR first and IFR from a point in space, is permissible, but some VFR operations still require approved weather reports rather than the pilot's own observations.

FlightPush Summary

An attorney asked whether a state court could transfer a 14 CFR part 135 air carrier certificate to another company without FAA approval. The FAA said no: air carrier certificates are not transferable, the FAA would not recognize a transferred certificate, and Federal law preempts state law in aviation.

FlightPush Summary

The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade asked whether Pitkin County could deny permits for helicopter filming flights on noise and safety grounds. The FAA said it lacked enough detail to determine the county's basis, but explained that airspace use, flight safety, and aircraft noise are under exclusive federal authority, and local attempts to regulate them would raise preemption questions.

FlightPush Summary

An individual argued that gliders without transponders are restricted above 10,000 feet MSL within 30 nautical miles of an appendix D, section 1 airport. The FAA disagreed: 14 CFR 91.215(b)(3)(ii) is an exception to 14 CFR 91.215(b)(2) covering the surface to 10,000 feet MSL, not a limit on the separate 14 CFR 91.215(b)(5) exception for gliders and balloons at and above 10,000 feet.

FlightPush Summary

The National Business Aviation Association asked the FAA to narrow its Schwab Interpretation barring reimbursement for personal travel on company aircraft. The FAA agreed in part: a company may be reimbursed the pro rata cost of owning, operating, and maintaining the aircraft for routine personal travel by high-level individuals whose plans it can change on short notice, but not merely because they must stay in contact or work aboard.

FlightPush Summary

TransPac Aviation Academy asked whether a lost-communications IFR flight arriving early at its destination clearance limit may immediately start an approach. The FAA said that under 14 CFR 91.185 the pilot proceeds to a fix from which an approach begins and, if early, holds there so descent and approach begin as close as possible to the estimated time of arrival.

FlightPush Summary

The Broward County Sheriff's Office asked whether police and medevac helicopters with permanently mounted spotlights, a microwave downlink antenna, and a FLIR gimbal need a part 133 external-load certificate. The FAA said no: equipment installed under a supplemental type certificate that cannot be jettisoned and carries no payload beyond its own weight is an external fixture, not an external load.

FlightPush Summary

An FAA regional office asked whether DOE hazmat flights flown by a contractor pilot are public aircraft operations and whether hazmat training applies. The FAA said the flights are public aircraft operations not subject to Title 14, even when another federal agency reimburses DOE, but the pilot's employer must comply with federal hazmat law and the Hazardous Materials Regulations, including their training requirements.

FlightPush Summary

The FAA Chief Counsel concluded that current FAA employees are not "private persons" under 14 CFR part 183 and cannot be appointed as designees. Employees of other Executive Branch agencies may serve as designees with caveats and a case-by-case ethics review; organizations of other federal agencies raise the same considerations, and the FAA advised caution with such requests.

FlightPush Summary

COMAIR, Inc. asked whether the 24 consecutive hours of rest required by 14 CFR 121.471(d) must fall on one calendar day. The FAA said no: the rest period may begin on one day and end the next, such as 1500 Wednesday to 1500 Thursday, though compliance depends on the pilot's actual flight time.

FlightPush Summary

An aviation maintenance technician school may teach diesel engines type certificated as reciprocating engines under 14 CFR part 147, Appendix D, because they are reciprocating engines. The curriculum still needs approval from the school's principal maintenance inspector under 14 CFR 147.21(a).

FlightPush Summary

A requester asked three questions about the IFR lost-communications rule in 14 CFR 91.185(c). The FAA said a clearance limit is not necessarily a holding fix, the rule applies even if no holding instructions were issued, non-GPS aircraft should plan on ground-based navaids, and ATC expects pilots to commence descent under 14 CFR 91.185(c)(3)(i) or (ii) as appropriate.

FlightPush Summary

A pilot who flies company property for his employer and is reimbursed only for operating expenses is receiving compensation, so the flights are on-demand operations requiring 14 CFR part 119 certification and compliance with 14 CFR part 135. The FAA counts both the reimbursement and the flight hours gained at the employer's expense as compensation.

FlightPush Summary

Patton Boggs LLP asked whether Windsor Jet Management's planned charters would be scheduled operations. The FAA said no, as described: a scheduled operation requires offering in advance the departure location, departure time, and arrival location, and Windsor would negotiate airports with each customer. A narrow advertised departure window could suggest an offered departure time.

FlightPush Summary

Trans States Airlines asked whether its PICs, auditors, or flight managers may correct load manifest errors found later. Under 14 CFR 121.665 the certificate holder must ensure the manifest is prepared and accurate before each takeoff, so the original may not be altered after takeoff; discrepancies should instead be reported and addressed.