About this blog series: In this two-part blog post “Keeping Our Skies Safe”, we review the many processes and policies in place to regulate United States airspace and to protect air travelers, flight personnel and all sorts of aircraft flying U.S. skies. In “Keeping Our Skies Safe, Part 1 of 2: Aviation safety planning & response,” we covered the many aviation safety publications produced by the United States Federal Government, future plans to keep ahead of evolving flight safety issues, and U.S. emergency response.
In this post, “Keeping Our Skies Safe, Part 2 of 2: Aviation safety rules and regulations,” I wanted to go over some of the key U.S. regulations that govern the United States airspace including aircraft certifications, flight crew member certifications, pilot preparation, and airspace monitoring.
So, I began my search for information with the United States Code of Federal Regulations, commonly referred to as the CFR or CFRs, the codification or standardization of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by all the departments and agencies across the entire U.S. Federal Government. Each agency’s regulations are divided among the 50 volumes of the Code of Federal Regulations. For aviation safety, we must turn to the popular Title 14, Aeronautics and Space, which covers both the US Department of Transportation — Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations as well as those for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Where can you find the US standards for airplane maintenance—referred to as the “airworthiness standards”— as well as the certification procedures for both large and small aircraft parts and products, such as engines?
Code of Federal Regulations, Title 14, Aeronautics and Space, Pt. 1-59, Revised as of January 1, 2014
Part 1-59 primarily covers the definitions and scope of the Federal Aviation Administration within the US Department of Transportation. The section specifically includes rulemaking as well as some nuts and bolts of our US air space, such as the airworthiness standards for transport category airplanes and commuter category airplanes, manned air balloons, engines, and propellers, rotary aircraft and transport rotary aircraft, plus certification procedures for parts and products, noise standards, aircraft registration and identification markings, and more.
Where is the best place to search for U.S. regulations covering flying certification for pilots, as well as their medical standards and certifications required for them to be able to take a plane up into U.S. airspace?
Code of Federal Regulations, Title 14, Aeronautics and Space, Pt. 60-109, Revised as of January 1, 2014
Part 60-109 covers more regulations relating to the Federal Aviation Administration within the US Department of Transportation. Specifically, this volume covers certification for pilots, flight instructors, ground instructors, flight crew members other than pilots and certification for airmen other than flight crew members. This part also includes medical standards and certifications. Air space routes, special use air space, general operating and flight rules, as well as special air traffic rules and standard instrument procedures are also included in this volume.
How about the U.S. regulations about the flight crew including flight duty limitations and drug and alcohol testing?
Google Images- Photo image compliments of pilotlights.net
Code of Federal Regulations, Title 14, Aeronautics and Space, Pt. 110-199, Revised as of January 1, 2014
Parts 110-199 cover more regulations pertaining to the Federal Aviation Administration within the US Department of Transportation. The primary focus of this volume is the flight crew. It includes the following: General requirements, Flight duty limitations and rest requirements for flight crew members, drug and alcohol testing program. It also covers the operational requirements and certification for airplanes having a seating capacity of more than 20 passengers and covers the foreign operations and foreign operators of U.S. registered aircraft engage in common carriage. This volume also includes the operating requirements for commuter and on-demand operations and rules governing persons on board such aircraft. Pilot schools, training centers, aviation maintenance schools are also covered with regulations in this volume. Aviation insurance requirements and airport certification, property and noise compatibility planning are also covered in this volume.
Google images- Photo image compliments of flysfo.com
Are there any U.S. regulations relating to tarmac delay data, domestic baggage liabilities and international cargo and passenger transportation?
Code of Federal Regulations, Title 14, Aeronautics and Space, Pt. 200-1199, Revised as of January 1, 2014
Parts 200-399 covers items, such as: the scheduled air carrier and charter trips of the United Sates; terms, conditions, and limitations on foreign air carriers, charter trips and commuter air carriers. It also covers the reporting statistics of foreign air carriers in civilian scheduled charter and non-scheduled services.
This part also contains regulations relating to airline service quality reports, tarmac delay data, direct airport-to-airport mileage records, domestic baggage liabilities, interstate cargo operations air transportation and international cargo and passenger transportation. Foreign freight forwarders and foreign cooperative shippers associations are also included in this part.
Parts 400-1199 covers license applications, safety approvals, and some regulations for the commercial space transportation including definitions, scope, rulemaking, investigations, and enforcement.
Google Images-Photo image compliments of Hawaii.gov
These volumes may interest the general public concerned about requirements for US flight crew members, and aircraft, especially in light of the disappearance of Malaysia Flight 370 . Aviation specialists, especially pilots and flight crew members that need to be aware of the US regulations relating certifications, airport routes, to aviation and airspace within the United Sates will also want to be aware of these essential regulations.
An online version of these volumes of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) can be found for free on GPO’s Federal Digital System at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collectionCfr.action?collectionCode=CFR or can be purchased through the US Government Bookstore at this link: http://bookstore.gpo.gov/CFR
How can I get these Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) publications ?
- Shop Online Anytime: You can buy these print publications (with FREE Standard Shipping worldwide) from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore website at http://bookstore.gpo.gov:
- Order by Phone: You may also order print editions by calling our Customer Contact Center Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5:30 pm Eastern (except US Federal holidays). From US and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.512.1800. DC or International customers call +1.202.512.1800.
- Shop our Retail Store: Buy a copy of any print editions from this collection at GPO’s retail bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20401, open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Federal holidays, Call (202) 512-0132 for information or to arrange in-store pick-up.
- Visit a Federal Depository Library: Search for U.S. Government publications in a nearby Federal depository library. You can find the records for most titles in the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications or CGP.
About the Author – This week’s blog contributor is Maureen Whelan, Senior Marketing Team Leader for GPO’s Publication & Information Sales division program office in Washington, DC. Maureen oversees print and digital content dissemination strategy and manages third party free and paid content distribution platforms and vendors such as Apple iBookstore, Google Play eBookstore, EBSCOhost, Overdrive, and more. Additionally, Maureen’s commercial publishing industry experience with publishing requirements, copyrights, product formats and content metadata and search optimization have helped Federal agencies publications be more discoverable through these consumer channels. A few examples of commercially popular Federal print books that were successfully migrated to digital include The Healthy Woman and The Basic Guide to Exporting.
The Federal Register is the official daily legal publication of the U.S. Federal Government, published by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in partnership with the Government Publishing Office (GPO). It is the authoritative source for various crucial Federal Government documents, providing comprehensive insights into the regulatory landscape and executive actions. Among the key categories of information found within its pages are:
Posted by Trudy Hawkins 
govbooktalk
Trudy Hawkins
Government Book Talk 