AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2015 - 24

PILOT COUNSEL

Some miscellaneous rules

BY JOHN S. YODICE

The lesser-known regulations

JOHN S. YODICE

provides legal
counsel to AOPA
members through
the Pilot Protection
Services program.

24 | AOPA PILOT July 2015

AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, my practice in this column
over the years has been to try to cover all of the major
operating and flight rules of the Federal Aviation
Regulations that generally apply to pilots and aircraft
owners. A drawback to this approach is that I don't
ordinarily cover the rules that get less notoriety, but
are still important. Here are a few miscellaneous ones
about which you might enjoy being reminded.
Interference with crewmembers. Here is one
that you should have in your arsenal to control an
unruly passenger. Let the passenger know that FAR
91.11 prohibits any person from "assaulting," "threatening," "intimidating," or otherwise "interfering" with
a crewmember, including the pilot of a general aviation
aircraft, in the performance of crewmember duties.
This provision is frequently invoked in airline operations. It is triggered by a complaint to the FAA. The
FAA will prosecute serious cases of interference.
An example of how the FAA will prosecute under
this rule involved a pilot who, while flying his helicopter, shouted obscenities over the radio at another
pilot. The other pilot was on the ground preparing to
take off in another helicopter. We don't know what
the dispute was about, but the pilot then landed his
helicopter, got out, went over to the other helicopter,
and punched the pilot. Using this rule, the FAA suspended the punching pilot's certificate for a period
of 30 days.
What about interfering passengers who are not
pilots? The FAA can impose significant civil penalties-essentially fines-for violation of this rule.
Dropping objects. FAR 91.15 is a rule about
dropping objects from an aircraft, subject to a very
important proviso. Specifically, the rule says, "this
section does not prohibit the dropping of any object
if reasonable precautions are taken to avoid injury or
damage to persons or property." Some of the obvious
applications are parachute jumping, water bombing
contests, and the like.
Carriage of illegal drugs. FAR 91.19 prohibits the
operation of an aircraft within the United States with
knowledge that unlawful narcotic drugs, marijuana, or
depressant or stimulant drugs or substances are carried in the aircraft. As you would expect, this section
does not apply to "drugs or substances authorized by
or under any federal or state statute or by any federal
or state agency." The present conflicting jurisdictional

regulation of marijuana is still developing, and we will
report developments regarding this rule.
What a pilot should particularly note is that the
drugs do not have to be in the possession of the pilot to
constitute a violation. They could be in the possession
of a passenger or in a baggage compartment. Know
your passengers and whatever you may be carrying as
an accommodation to others.
Portable electronic devices. According to FAR
91.21, a pilot operating a general aviation aircraft under
IFR may not operate, or permit anyone onboard to
operate, a portable electronic device. That is, unless
the pilot first determines that it will not cause interference with the navigation or communication systems
of the aircraft. Specifically excepted from the rule are
portable voice recorders, hearing aids, heart pacemakers, and electric shavers.
Malfunction reports. Any malfunction of navigational, approach, or communications equipment
occurring in an aircraft being operated under IFR must
be reported to air traffic control as soon as practicable,
according to FAR 91.187.
Change of address. Section 61.60 of the Federal
Aviation Regulations requires a pilot (or flight instructor or ground instructor) to give written notification to
the FAA of any change in permanent mailing address.
What pilots particularly need to be alert to is that, after
a 30-day grace period, if this notification is not given,
the pilot may not exercise the privileges of his or her
certificate until the required notification is given.
Technically, a change of address noted on an FAA
medical or pilot certificate application form does not
meet this requirement, although the FAA does ordinarily make the change. So, you should technically
comply with the requirement by notifying the FAA
Airman Certification Branch, Post Office Box 25082,
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73125, by letter or online.
Along with your new address, include your date of
birth and your airman certificate number. If the mailing address includes a post office box number, then the
current residential address also must be given.
The FAA will not issue another airman certificate
with the new address printed on it unless you specifically request a new certificate and enclose a check for
$2, payable to the FAA.
AOPA
WEB www.aopa.org/pps


http://www.aopa.org/pps

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2015

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