Federal Aviation Administration, DOT

Section 135.161

Section 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, unless it is equipped with - 
(a) A gyroscopic rate-of-turn indicator except on the following aircraft:
(1) Airplanes with a third attitude instrument system usable through flight
attitudes of 360 degrees of pitch-androll and installed in accordance with
the instrument requirements prescribed in Section 121.305(j) of this chapter.
(2) Helicopters with a third attitude
instrument system usable through
flight attitudes of Section80 degrees of pitch
and Section120 degrees of roll and installed in
accordance with Section 29.1303(g) of this
chapter.
(3) Helicopters with a maximum certificated takeoff weight of 6,000 pounds
or less.
(b) A slip skid indicator.
(c) A gyroscopic bank-and-pitch indicator.
(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 instruments, 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 electrically driven instruments and lights,
but does not include occasional intermittent 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 direction indicator.
[Doc. No. 24550, 51 FR 40709, Nov. 7, 1986, as
amended by Amdt. 135-38, 55 FR 43310, Oct.
26, 1990]

Section 135.160 Radio altimeters for rotorcraft operations.
(a) After April 24, 2017, no person may
operate a rotorcraft unless that rotorcraft is equipped with an operable
FAA-approved radio altimeter, or an
FAA-approved device that incorporates
a radio altimeter, unless otherwise authorized in the certificate holder-s approved minimum equipment list.
(b) Deviation authority. The Administrator may authorize deviations from
paragraph (a) of this section for rotorcraft that are unable to incorporate a
radio altimeter. This deviation will be
issued as a Letter of Deviation Authority. The deviation may be terminated
or amended at any time by the Administrator. The request for deviation authority 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
circumstances and justification, and must
be submitted to the responsible Flight
Standards office, not less than 60 days
prior to the date of intended operations.
[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]

Section 135.161 Communication and navigation equipment for aircraft operations under VFR over routes navigated by pilotage.
(a) No person may operate an aircraft
under VFR over routes that can be
navigated by pilotage unless the aircraft is equipped with the two-way
radio communication equipment necessary under normal operating conditions 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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