226 

14 CFR Ch. I (1–1–19 Edition) 

§ 121.651 

day and night operations may be re-
duced to 

1

⁄

2

mile, if all turns after take-

off and prior to landing, and all flight 
beyond one mile from the airport 
boundary can be accomplished above or 
outside the area of local surface visi-
bility restriction. 

(c) The weather minimums in this 

section do not apply to the VFR oper-
ation of fixed-wing aircraft at any of 
the locations where the special weather 
minimums of § 91.157 of this chapter are 
not applicable (See part 91, appendix D, 
section 3 of this chapter). The basic 
VFR weather minimums of § 91.155 of 
this chapter apply at those locations. 

[Doc. No. 6258, 29 FR 19222, Dec. 31, 1964, as 
amended by Amdt. 121–39, 33 FR 4097, Mar. 2, 
1968; Amdt. 121–206, 54 FR 34331, Aug. 18, 1989; 
Amdt. 121–226, 56 FR 65663, Dec. 17, 1991] 

§ 121.651

Takeoff and landing weather 

minimums: IFR: All certificate hold-
ers. 

(a) Notwithstanding any clearance 

from ATC, no pilot may begin a takeoff 
in an airplane under IFR when the 
weather conditions reported by the 
U.S. National Weather Service, a 
source approved by that Service, or a 
source approved by the Administrator, 
are less than those specified in— 

(1) The certificate holder’s operations 

specifications; or 

(2) Parts 91 and 97 of this chapter, if 

the certificate holder’s operations 
specifications do not specify takeoff 
minimums for the airport. 

(b) Except as provided in paragraphs 

(d) and (e) of this section, no pilot may 
continue an approach past the final ap-
proach fix, or where a final approach 
fix is not used, begin the final approach 
segment of an instrument approach 
procedure— 

(1) At any airport, unless the U.S. 

National Weather Service, a source ap-
proved by that Service, or a source ap-
proved by the Administrator, issues a 
weather report for that airport; and 

(2) At airports within the United 

States and its territories or at U.S. 
military airports, unless the latest 
weather report for that airport issued 
by the U.S. National Weather Service, 
a source approved by that Service, or a 
source approved by the Administrator, 
reports the visibility to be equal to or 
more than the visibility minimums 

prescribed for that procedure. For the 
purpose of this section, the term ‘‘U.S. 
military airports’’ means airports in 
foreign countries where flight oper-
ations are under the control of U.S. 
military authority. 

(c) A pilot who has begun the final 

approach segment of an instrument ap-
proach procedure in accordance with 
paragraph (b) of this section, and after 
that receives a later weather report in-
dicating below-minimum conditions, 
may continue the approach to DA/DH 
or MDA. Upon reaching DA/DH or at 
MDA, and at any time before the 
missed approach point, the pilot may 
continue the approach below DA/DH or 
MDA if either the requirements of 
§ 91.176 of this chapter, or the following 
requirements are met: 

(1) The aircraft is continuously in a 

position from which a descent to a 
landing on the intended runway can be 
made at a normal rate of descent using 
normal maneuvers, and where that de-
scent rate will allow touchdown to 
occur within the touchdown zone of the 
runway of intended landing; 

(2) The flight visibility is not less 

than the visibility prescribed in the 
standard instrument approach proce-
dure being used; 

(3) Except for Category II or Cat-

egory III approaches where any nec-
essary visual reference requirements 
are specified by authorization of the 
Administrator, at least one of the fol-
lowing visual references for the in-
tended runway is distinctly visible and 
identifiable to the pilot: 

(i) The approach light system, except 

that the pilot may not descend below 
100 feet above the touchdown zone ele-
vation using the approach lights as a 
reference unless the red terminating 
bars or the red side row bars are also 
distinctly visible and identifiable. 

(ii) The threshold. 
(iii) The threshold markings. 
(iv) The threshold lights. 
(v) The runway end identifier lights. 
(vi) The visual approach slope indi-

cator. 

(vii) The touchdown zone or touch-

down zone markings. 

(viii) The touchdown zone lights. 
(ix) The runway or runway markings. 
(x) The runway lights; and 

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