201 

Federal Aviation Administration, DOT 

§ 121.565 

in command, and shall have the deci-
sion recorded. If they cannot commu-
nicate with the pilot, they shall de-
clare an emergency and take any ac-
tion that they consider necessary 
under the circumstances. 

(c) Whenever emergency authority is 

exercised, the pilot in command or the 
appropriate management personnel 
shall keep the appropriate communica-
tion facility fully informed of the 
progress of the flight. The person de-
claring the emergency shall send a 
written report of any deviation, 
through the certificate holder’s direc-
tor of operations, to the Administrator 
within 10 days after the flight is com-
pleted or, in the case of operations out-
side the United States, upon return to 
the home base. 

[Doc. No. 6258, 29 FR 19219, Dec. 31, 1964, as 
amended by Amdt. 121–253, 61 FR 2614, Jan. 
26, 1996; Amdt. 121–333, 72 FR 31682, June 7, 
2007] 

§ 121.561

Reporting potentially haz-

ardous meteorological conditions 
and irregularities of ground facili-
ties or navigation aids. 

(a) Whenever he encounters a mete-

orological condition or an irregularity 
in aground facility or navigation aid, 
in flight, the knowledge of which he 
considers essential to the safety of 
other flights, the pilot in command 
shall notify an appropriate ground sta-
tion as soon as practicable. 

(b) The ground radio station that is 

notified under paragraph (a) of this sec-
tion shall report the information to the 
agency directly responsible for oper-
ating the facility. 

[Doc. No. 6258, 29 FR 19219, Dec. 31, 1964, as 
amended by Amdt. 121–333, 72 FR 31682, June 
7, 2007] 

§ 121.563

Reporting mechanical irreg-

ularities. 

The pilot in command shall ensure 

that all mechanical irregularities oc-
curring during flight time are entered 
in the maintenance log of the airplane 
at the end of that flight time. Before 
each flight the pilot in command shall 
ascertain the status of each irregu-

larity entered in the log at the end of 
the preceding flight. 

[Doc. No. 17897, 45 FR 41594, June 19, 1980, as 
amended by Amdt. 121–179, 47 FR 33390, Aug. 
2, 1982] 

§ 121.565

Engine inoperative: Landing; 

reporting. 

(a) Except as provided in paragraph 

(b) of this section, whenever an air-
plane engine fails or whenever an en-
gine is shutdown to prevent possible 
damage, the pilot in command must 
land the airplane at the nearest suit-
able airport, in point of time, at which 
a safe landing can be made. 

(b) If not more than one engine of an 

airplane that has three or more engines 
fails or is shut down to prevent pos-
sible damage, the pilot-in-command 
may proceed to an airport that the 
pilot selects if, after considering the 
following, the pilot makes a reasonable 
decision that proceeding to that air-
port is as safe as landing at the nearest 
suitable airport: 

(1) The nature of the malfunction and 

the possible mechanical difficulties 
that may occur if flight is continued. 

(2) The altitude, weight, and useable 

fuel at the time that the engine is 
shutdown. 

(3) The weather conditions en route 

and at possible landing points. 

(4) The air traffic congestion. 
(5) The kind of terrain. 
(6) His familiarity with the airport to 

be used. 

(c) The pilot-in-command must re-

port each engine shutdown in flight to 
the appropriate communication facil-
ity as soon as practicable and must 
keep that facility fully informed of the 
progress of the flight. 

(d) If the pilot in command lands at 

an airport other than the nearest suit-
able airport, in point of time, he or she 
shall (upon completing the trip) send a 
written report, in duplicate, to his or 
her director of operations stating the 
reasons for determining that the selec-
tion of an airport, other than the near-
est airport, was as safe a course of ac-
tion as landing at the nearest suitable 
airport. The director of operations 
shall, within 10 days after the pilot re-
turns to his or her home base, send a 
copy of this report with the director of 

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