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21 

Federal Aviation Administration, DOT 

§ 117.3 

part 121 operations pursuant to 121.470, 
121.480, or 121.500. 

§ 117.3 Definitions. 

In addition to the definitions in §§ 1.1 

and 110.2 of this chapter, the following 
definitions apply to this part. In the 
event there is a conflict in definitions, 
the definitions in this part control for 
purposes of the flight and duty limita-
tions and rest requirements of this 
part. 

Acclimated 

means a condition in 

which a flightcrew member has been in 
a theater for 72 hours or has been given 
at least 36 consecutive hours free from 
duty. 

Airport/standby reserve 

means a de-

fined duty period during which a 
flightcrew member is required by a cer-
tificate holder to be at an airport for a 
possible assignment. 

Augmented flightcrew 

means a 

flightcrew that has more than the min-
imum number of flightcrew members 
required by the airplane type certifi-
cate to operate the aircraft to allow a 
flightcrew member to be replaced by 
another qualified flightcrew member 
for in-flight rest. 

Calendar day 

means a 24-hour period 

from 0000 through 2359 using Coordi-
nated Universal Time or local time. 

Certificate holder 

means a person who 

holds or is required to hold an air car-
rier certificate or operating certificate 
issued under part 119 of this chapter. 

Deadhead transportation 

means trans-

portation of a flightcrew member as a 
passenger or non-operating flightcrew 
member, by any mode of transpor-
tation, as required by a certificate 
holder, excluding transportation to or 
from a suitable accommodation. All 
time spent in deadhead transportation 
is duty and is not rest. For purposes of 
determining the maximum flight duty 
period in Table B of this part, deadhead 
transportation is not considered a 
flight segment. 

Duty 

means any task that a 

flightcrew member performs as re-
quired by the certificate holder, includ-
ing but not limited to flight duty pe-
riod, flight duty, pre- and post-flight 
duties, administrative work, training, 
deadhead transportation, aircraft posi-
tioning on the ground, aircraft loading, 
and aircraft servicing. 

Fatigue 

means a physiological state 

of reduced mental or physical perform-
ance capability resulting from lack of 
sleep or increased physical activity 
that can reduce a flightcrew member’s 
alertness and ability to safely operate 
an aircraft or perform safety-related 
duties. 

Fatigue risk management system 

(FRMS) means a management system 
for a certificate holder to use to miti-
gate the effects of fatigue in its par-
ticular operations. It is a data-driven 
process and a systematic method used 
to continuously monitor and manage 
safety risks associated with fatigue-re-
lated error. 

Fit for duty 

means physiologically 

and mentally prepared and capable of 
performing assigned duties at the high-
est degree of safety. 

Flight duty period (FDP) 

means a pe-

riod that begins when a flightcrew 
member is required to report for duty 
with the intention of conducting a 
flight, a series of flights, or positioning 
or ferrying flights, and ends when the 
aircraft is parked after the last flight 
and there is no intention for further 
aircraft movement by the same 
flightcrew member. A flight duty pe-
riod includes the duties performed by 
the flightcrew member on behalf of the 
certificate holder that occur before a 
flight segment or between flight seg-
ments without a required intervening 
rest period. Examples of tasks that are 
part of the flight duty period include 
deadhead transportation, training con-
ducted in an aircraft or flight simu-
lator, and airport/standby reserve, if 
the above tasks occur before a flight 
segment or between flight segments 
without an intervening required rest 
period. 

Home base 

means the location des-

ignated by a certificate holder where a 
flightcrew member normally begins 
and ends his or her duty periods. 

Lineholder 

means a flightcrew mem-

ber who has an assigned flight duty pe-
riod and is not acting as a reserve 
flightcrew member. 

Long-call reserve 

means that, prior to 

beginning the rest period required by 
§ 117.25, the flightcrew member is noti-
fied by the certificate holder to report 
for a flight duty period following the 
completion of the rest period. 

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22 

14 CFR Ch. I (1–1–24 Edition) 

§ 117.5 

Physiological night’s rest 

means 10 

hours of rest that encompasses the 
hours of 0100 and 0700 at the flightcrew 
member’s home base, unless the indi-
vidual has acclimated to a different 
theater. If the flightcrew member has 
acclimated to a different theater, the 
rest must encompass the hours of 0100 
and 0700 at the acclimated location. 

Report time 

means the time that the 

certificate holder requires a flightcrew 
member to report for an assignment. 

Reserve availability period 

means a 

duty period during which a certificate 
holder requires a flightcrew member on 
short call reserve to be available to re-
ceive an assignment for a flight duty 
period. 

Reserve flightcrew member 

means a 

flightcrew member who a certificate 
holder requires to be available to re-
ceive an assignment for duty. 

Rest facility 

means a bunk or seat ac-

commodation installed in an aircraft 
that provides a flightcrew member 
with a sleep opportunity. 

(1) 

Class 1 rest facility 

means a bunk 

or other surface that allows for a flat 
sleeping position and is located sepa-
rate from both the flight deck and pas-
senger cabin in an area that is tem-
perature-controlled, allows the 
flightcrew member to control light, 
and provides isolation from noise and 
disturbance. 

(2) 

Class 2 rest facility 

means a seat in 

an aircraft cabin that allows for a flat 
or near flat sleeping position; is sepa-
rated from passengers by a minimum of 
a curtain to provide darkness and some 
sound mitigation; and is reasonably 
free from disturbance by passengers or 
flightcrew members. 

(3) 

Class 3 rest facility 

means a seat in 

an aircraft cabin or flight deck that re-
clines at least 40 degrees and provides 
leg and foot support. 

Rest period 

means a continuous period 

determined prospectively during which 
the flightcrew member is free from all 
restraint by the certificate holder, in-
cluding freedom from present responsi-
bility for work should the occasion 
arise. 

Scheduled 

means to appoint, assign, 

or designate for a fixed time. 

Short-call reserve 

means a period of 

time in which a flightcrew member is 

assigned to a reserve availability pe-
riod. 

Split duty 

means a flight duty period 

that has a scheduled break in duty that 
is less than a required rest period. 

Suitable accommodation 

means a tem-

perature-controlled facility with sound 
mitigation and the ability to control 
light that provides a flightcrew mem-
ber with the ability to sleep either in a 
bed, bunk or in a chair that allows for 
flat or near flat sleeping position. Suit-
able accommodation only applies to 
ground facilities and does not apply to 
aircraft onboard rest facilities. 

Theater 

means a geographical area in 

which the distance between the 
flightcrew member’s flight duty period 
departure point and arrival point dif-
fers by no more than 60 degrees lon-
gitude. 

Unforeseen operational circumstance 

means an unplanned event of insuffi-
cient duration to allow for adjustments 
to schedules, including unforecast 
weather, equipment malfunction, or air 
traffic delay that is not reasonably ex-
pected. 

Window of circadian low 

means a pe-

riod of maximum sleepiness that oc-
curs between 0200 and 0559 during a 
physiological night. 

[Doc. No. FAA–2009–1093, 77 FR 398, Jan. 4, 
2012; Amdt. 117–1A, 77 FR 28764, May 16, 2012; 
Amdt. 117–1, 78 FR 69288, Nov. 19, 2013] 

§ 117.5 Fitness for duty. 

(a) Each flightcrew member must re-

port for any flight duty period rested 
and prepared to perform his or her as-
signed duties. 

(b) No certificate holder may assign 

and no flightcrew member may accept 
assignment to a flight duty period if 
the flightcrew member has reported for 
a flight duty period too fatigued to 
safely perform his or her assigned du-
ties. 

(c) No certificate holder may permit 

a flightcrew member to continue a 
flight duty period if the flightcrew 
member has reported him or herself too 
fatigued to continue the assigned flight 
duty period. 

(d) As part of the dispatch or flight 

release, as applicable, each flightcrew 
member must affirmatively state he or 
she is fit for duty prior to commencing 
flight.