443
Federal Aviation Administration, DOT
§ 135.161
§ 135.159
Equipment requirements:
Carrying passengers under VFR at
night or under VFR over-the-top
conditions.
No person may operate an aircraft
carrying passengers under VFR at
night or under VFR over-the-top, un-
less it is equipped with—
(a) A gyroscopic rate-of-turn indi-
cator except on the following aircraft:
(1) Airplanes with a third attitude in-
strument system usable through flight
attitudes of 360 degrees of pitch-and-
roll and installed in accordance with
the instrument requirements pre-
scribed in § 121.305(j) of this chapter.
(2) Helicopters with a third attitude
instrument system usable through
flight attitudes of
±
80 degrees of pitch
and
±
120 degrees of roll and installed in
accordance with § 29.1303(g) of this
chapter.
(3) Helicopters with a maximum cer-
tificated takeoff weight of 6,000 pounds
or less.
(b) A slip skid indicator.
(c) A gyroscopic bank-and-pitch indi-
cator.
(d) A gyroscopic direction indicator.
(e) A generator or generators able to
supply all probable combinations of
continuous in-flight electrical loads for
required equipment and for recharging
the battery.
(f) For night flights—
(1) An anticollision light system;
(2) Instrument lights to make all in-
struments, switches, and gauges easily
readable, the direct rays of which are
shielded from the pilots’ eyes; and
(3) A flashlight having at least two
size ‘‘D’’ cells or equivalent.
(g) For the purpose of paragraph (e)
of this section, a continuous in-flight
electrical load includes one that draws
current continuously during flight,
such as radio equipment and elec-
trically driven instruments and lights,
but does not include occasional inter-
mittent loads.
(h) Notwithstanding provisions of
paragraphs (b), (c), and (d), helicopters
having a maximum certificated takeoff
weight of 6,000 pounds or less may be
operated until January 6, 1988, under
visual flight rules at night without a
slip skid indicator, a gyroscopic bank-
and-pitch indicator, or a gyroscopic di-
rection indicator.
[Doc. No. 24550, 51 FR 40709, Nov. 7, 1986, as
amended by Amdt. 135–38, 55 FR 43310, Oct.
26, 1990]
§ 135.160
Radio altimeters for rotor-
craft operations.
(a) After April 24, 2017, no person may
operate a rotorcraft unless that rotor-
craft is equipped with an operable
FAA-approved radio altimeter, or an
FAA-approved device that incorporates
a radio altimeter, unless otherwise au-
thorized in the certificate holder’s ap-
proved minimum equipment list.
(b)
Deviation authority.
The Adminis-
trator may authorize deviations from
paragraph (a) of this section for rotor-
craft that are unable to incorporate a
radio altimeter. This deviation will be
issued as a Letter of Deviation Author-
ity. The deviation may be terminated
or amended at any time by the Admin-
istrator. The request for deviation au-
thority is applicable to rotorcraft with
a maximum gross takeoff weight no
greater than 2,950 pounds. The request
for deviation authority must contain a
complete statement of the cir-
cumstances and justification, and must
be submitted to the responsible Flight
Standards office, not less than 60 days
prior to the date of intended oper-
ations.
[Doc. No. FAA–2010–0982, 79 FR 9973, Feb. 21,
2014, as amended by Docket FAA–2018–0119,
Amdt. 135–139, 83 FR 9175, Mar. 5, 2018]
§ 135.161
Communication and naviga-
tion equipment for aircraft oper-
ations under VFR over routes navi-
gated by pilotage.
(a) No person may operate an aircraft
under VFR over routes that can be
navigated by pilotage unless the air-
craft is equipped with the two-way
radio communication equipment nec-
essary under normal operating condi-
tions to fulfill the following:
(1) Communicate with at least one
appropriate station from any point on
the route, except in remote locations
and areas of mountainous terrain
where geographical constraints make
such communication impossible.
(2) Communicate with appropriate air
traffic control facilities from any point
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