Federal Aviation Regulations


The Federal Aviation Regulations are rules prescribed by the Federal Aviation Administration governing all aviation activities in the United States. The FARs comprise Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations. A wide variety of activities are regulated, such as aircraft design and maintenance, typical airline flights, pilot training activities, hot-air ballooning, lighter-than-air aircraft, human-made structure heights, obstruction lighting and marking, model rocket launches, commercial space operations, model aircraft operations, unmanned aircraft systems and kite flying. The rules are designed to promote safe aviation, protecting pilots, flight attendants, passengers and the general public from unnecessary risk.

FAR vs. 14 CFR

Since 1958, these rules have typically been referred to as "FARs", short for Federal Aviation Regulations. However, another set of regulations is titled "Federal Acquisition Regulations", and this has led to confusion with the use of the acronym "FAR". Therefore, the FAA began to refer to specific regulations by the term "14 CFR part XX".
Chapter 3, Section 10 para. h explains "Do not use the acronym "FAR" to refer to FAA regulations. Neither the Department of Transportation nor the Office of the Federal Register allow us to use "FAR" for our regulations. The Federal Acquisition Regulations apply government-wide, and we are only allowed to use the acronym "FAR" for those regulations."

14 CFR overview

Title 14 CFR – Aeronautics and Space is one of the fifty titles that make up the United States Code of Federal Regulations. Title 14 is the principal set of rules and regulations issued by the Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration, which oversee aeronautics and space.

Content as of 2018

The table of contents, as reflected in the e-CFR updated December 20, 2018:
VolumeChapterPartsRegulatory entity
1IFederal Aviation Administration, United States Department of Transportation
2IFederal Aviation Administration, United States Department of Transportation
3IFederal Aviation Administration, United States Department of Transportation
4IIOFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
4IIIOffice of Commercial Space Transportation, FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
5VNational Aeronautics and Space Administration
5VIAir Transportation Stabilization Board

Organization

Each title of the CFR is organized into sections, called parts. Each part deals with a specific type of activity. For example, 14 CFR Part 141 contains rules for pilot training schools. The sections most relevant to aircraft pilots and AMTs are listed below. Many of the FARs are designed to regulate certification of pilots, schools, or aircraft rather than the operation of airplanes. Once an airplane design is certified using some parts of these regulations, it is certified regardless of whether the regulations change in the future. For that reason, newer planes are certified using newer versions of the FARs, and in many aspects may be thus considered safer designs.
  • Part 1 – Definitions and Abbreviations
  • Part 13 – Investigative and Enforcement Procedures
  • Part 21 – Certification Procedures for Products and Articles
  • Part 23 – Airworthiness Standards: Normal Category Airplanes
  • Part 25 – Airworthiness Standards: Transport Category Airplanes
  • Part 27 – Airworthiness Standards: Normal Category Rotorcraft
  • Part 29 – Airworthiness Standards: Transport Category Rotorcraft
  • Part 33 – Airworthiness Standards: Aircraft Engines
  • Part 34 – Fuel Venting and Exhaust Emission Requirements for Turbine Engine Powered Airplanes
  • Part 35 – Airworthiness Standards: Propellers
  • Part 36 – Noise Standards: Aircraft Type and Airworthiness Certification
  • Part 39 – Airworthiness Directives
  • Part 43 – Maintenance, Preventive Maintenance, Rebuilding, and Alteration
  • Part 45 – Identification and Registration Marking
  • Part 48 – Registration and Marking Requirements for Small Unmanned Aircraft
  • Part 61 – Certification: Pilots, Flight Instructors, and Ground Instructors
  • Part 63 – Certification: Flight Crewmembers Other Than Pilots
  • Part 65 – Certification: Airmen Other Than Flight Crewmembers
  • Part 67 – Medical Standards and Certification
  • Part 68 – Requirements for Operating Certain Small Aircraft without a Medical Certificate
  • Part 71 – Designation of Class A, B, C, D, and E Airspace Areas; Air Traffic Service Routes; and Reporting Points
  • Part 73 – Special Use Airspace
  • Part 91 – General Operating and Flight Rules
  • Part 97 – Standard Instrument Procedures
  • Part 101 – Moored Balloons, Kites, Amateur Rockets, and Unmanned Free Balloons
  • Part 103 – Ultralight Vehicles
  • Part 105 – Parachute Operations
  • Part 107 – Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems
  • Part 117 – Flight and Duty Limitations and Rest Requirements: Flightcrew Members
  • Part 119 – Certification: Air Carriers and Commercial Operators
  • Part 121 – Operating Requirements: Domestic, Flag, and Supplemental Operations
  • Part 125 – Certification and Operations: Airplanes Having a Seating Capacity of 20 or More Passengers or a Maximum Payload Capacity of 6,000 Pounds or More; and Rules Governing Persons on Board Such Aircraft
  • Part 129 – Operations: Foreign Air Carriers and Foreign Operators of U.S. Registered Aircraft Engaged in Common Carriage
  • Part 133 – Rotorcraft External-Load Operations
  • Part 135 – Operating Requirements: Commuter and On Demand Operations and Rules Governing Persons on Board Such Aircraft
  • Part 136 – Commercial Air Tours and National Parks Air Tour Management
  • Part 137 – Agricultural Aircraft Operations
  • Part 139 – Certification of Airports
  • Part 141 – Pilot Schools
  • Part 142 – Training Centers
  • Part 145 – Repair Stations
  • Part 147 – Aviation Maintenance Technician Schools
  • Part 183 – Representatives of The Administrator
  • Part 194 – Special Federal Aviation Regulation No. 120—Powered-Lift: Pilot Certification and Training; Operations Requirements
  • Part 298 – Exemptions for Air Taxi and Commuter Air Carrier Operations

    Regulations of interest

The FARs have tens of thousands of separate sections, many used by large numbers of researchers on any given day. A few of the regulations particularly relevant to laypersons, to political issues, or of historical interest are listed here.

Part 1

Many other FARs depend on definitions, which are found in Part 1.1

Part 21

This part prescribes:
  • Procedural requirements for issuing and changing:
  • * Design approvals;
  • * Production approvals;
  • * Airworthiness certificates;
  • * Airworthiness approvals;
  • Rules governing applicants for, and holders of, any approval or certificate specified above
  • Procedural requirements for the approval of articles.

    Part 23

Part 23 contains airworthiness standards required for issuance and change of type certificates for airplanes in these categories:
  • nine or fewer passengers, 12,500 pounds or less maximum takeoff weight
  • * normal: nonacrobatic operation
  • * utility: limited acrobatic operation
  • * acrobatic: no restrictions
  • commuter category: multiengine airplanes, 19 or less passengers, 19,000 pounds or less MTOW, nonacrobatic operation
In 2016 the FAA proposed a new system of performance-based airworthiness standards instead of prescriptive design requirements. The familiar weight and propulsion classifications of small airplane regulations would be replaced by performance and risk-based standards for aircraft weighing less than 19,000 pounds and seating 19 or fewer passengers. On August 30, 2017, a revised Part 23 ruling went into effect, changing the aircraft classifications. The new passenger classifications are: Level 1, seating for 0 to 1 passenger; Level 2, 2 to 6; Level 3, 7 to 9; Level 4, 10 to 19. Speed classifications are: low speed, Vc or Vmo equal to or less than 250 knots CAS and equal to or less than Mmo 0.6 Mach; high speed, Vc or Vmo greater than 250 knots CAS and Mmo greater than 0.6 Mach.
Prior to August 30, 2017, Part 23 had a large number of regulations to ensure airworthiness in areas such as structural loads, airframe, performance, stability, controllability, and safety mechanisms, how the seats must be constructed, oxygen and air pressurization systems, fire prevention, escape hatches, flight management procedures, flight control communications, emergency landing procedures, and other limitations, as well as testing of all the systems of the aircraft.
It also determined special aspects of aircraft performance such as stall speed, rate of climb, take-off speed, and weight of each pilot and passenger.
The Cessna 177, Cirrus SR20 and Piper PA-34 Seneca are well-known airplanes types that were certified to standards set out in FAR Part 23.
Most of the Federal Aviation Regulations, including Part 23, commenced on February 1, 1965. Prior to that date, airworthiness standards for airplanes in the normal, utility and acrobatic categories were promulgated in Part 3 of the US Civil Air Regulations. Many well-known types of light airplane, like the Cessna 150 and Piper Cherokee are certified to these older standards, even though they remained in production after 1965.

Part 25

This part contains airworthiness standards for airplanes in the transport category. The Boeing 737 and later types, and Airbus A300 series, are well-known airplane types that were certified according to standards set out in FAR Part 25. Transport category airplanes are either:
  • Jets with 10 or more seats or a MTOW greater than ; or
  • Propeller-driven airplanes with greater than 19 seats or a MTOW greater than.
This Part is organized into six subparts, to specify design criteria for each of
  • A – General
  • B – Flight
  • C – Structure
  • D – Design and Construction
  • E – Powerplant
  • F – Equipment
For example, Part 25, Subpart D has section headings for
  • General
  • Control Surfaces
  • Control Systems
  • Landing Gear
  • Floats and Hulls
  • Personnel and Cargo Accommodations
  • Emergency Provisions
  • Ventilation and Heating
  • Pressurization
  • Fire Protection
  • Miscellaneous
Most of the Federal Aviation Regulations, including Part 25, commenced on February 1, 1965. Prior to that date, airworthiness standards for airplanes in the transport category were promulgated in Part 4b of the US Civil Air Regulations which was in effect by November 1945. Effective August 27, 1957, Special Civil Air Regulation 422 was the basis for certification of the first turbine-powered transport airplanes, such as the Boeing 707, the Lockheed Electra, and the Fairchild 27. SR 422A became effective July 2, 1958, and was superseded by SR 422B, effective August 29, 1959. Only a few airplanes were certified under SR 422A, such as the Gulfstream I and the CL-44. First generation turbine-powered transport category airplanes such as the DC-8, DC-9, and B-727, were originally certified under SR 422B. SR 422B was recodified with minor changes to 14 CFR part 25, which became effective February 1965.