123
Federal Aviation Administration, DOT
§ 121.311
(1) Designed and constructed so that
it cannot be opened during flight; and
(2) Marked with a placard readable
from a distance of 30 inches and in-
stalled at a conspicuous location near
the means of opening the exit, stating
that the exit has been designed and
constructed so that it cannot be opened
during flight.
(l)
Emergency exit features.
(1) Each
transport category airplane manufac-
tured after
November 26, 2007
must com-
ply with the provisions of § 25.809(i) and
(2) After November 26, 2007 each
transport category airplane must com-
ply with the provisions of
§ 25.813(b)(6)(ii) in effect on November
26, 2007.
(m) Except for an airplane used in op-
erations under this part on October 16,
1987, and having an emergency exit
configuration installed and authorized
for operation prior to October 16, 1987,
for an airplane that is required to have
more than one passenger emergency
exit for each side of the fuselage, no
passenger emergency exit shall be
more than 60 feet from any adjacent
passenger emergency exit on the same
side of the same deck of the fuselage,
as measured parallel to the airplane’s
longitudinal axis between the nearest
exit edges.
(n)
Portable lights.
No person may op-
erate a passenger-carrying airplane un-
less it is equipped with flashlight stow-
age provisions accessible from each
flight attendant seat.
[Doc. No. 2033, 30 FR 3205, Mar. 9, 1965]
E
DITORIAL
N
OTE
: For F
EDERAL
R
EGISTER
ci-
tations affecting § 121.310, see the List of CFR
Sections Affected, which appears in the
Finding Aids section of the printed volume
and at
www.govinfo.gov.
§ 121.311 Seats, safety belts, and shoul-
der harnesses.
(a) No person may operate an air-
plane unless there are available during
the takeoff, en route flight, and land-
ing—
(1) An approved seat or berth for each
person on board the airplane who has
reached his second birthday; and
(2) An approved safety belt for sepa-
rate use by each person on board the
airplane who has reached his second
birthday, except that two persons occu-
pying a berth may share one approved
safety belt and two persons occupying
a multiple lounge or divan seat may
share one approved safety belt during
en route flight only.
(b) Except as provided in this para-
graph, each person on board an air-
plane operated under this part shall oc-
cupy an approved seat or berth with a
separate safety belt properly secured
about him or her during movement on
the surface, takeoff, and landing. A
safety belt provided for the occupant of
a seat may not be used by more than
one person who has reached his or her
second birthday. Notwithstanding the
preceding requirements, a child may:
(1) Be held by an adult who is occu-
pying an approved seat or berth, pro-
vided the child has not reached his or
her second birthday and the child does
not occupy or use any restraining de-
vice; or
(2) Notwithstanding any other re-
quirement of this chapter, occupy an
approved child restraint system fur-
nished by the certificate holder or one
of the persons described in paragraph
(b)(2)(i) of this section, provided:
(i) The child is accompanied by a par-
ent, guardian, or attendant designated
by the child’s parent or guardian to at-
tend to the safety of the child during
the flight;
(ii) Except as provided in paragraph
(b)(2)(ii)(D) of this section, the ap-
proved child restraint system bears one
or more labels as follows:
(A) Seats manufactured to U.S.
standards between January 1, 1981, and
February 25, 1985, must bear the label:
‘‘This child restraint system conforms
to all applicable Federal motor vehicle
safety standards.’’
(B) Seats manufactured to U.S.
standards on or after February 26, 1985,
must bear two labels:
(
1
) ‘‘This child restraint system con-
forms to all applicable Federal motor
vehicle safety standards’’; and
(
2
) ‘‘THIS RESTRAINT IS CER-
TIFIED FOR USE IN MOTOR VEHI-
CLES AND AIRCRAFT’’ in red let-
tering;
(C) Seats that do not qualify under
paragraphs (b)(2)(ii)(A) and (b)(2)(ii)(B)
of this section must bear a label or
markings showing:
(
1
) That the seat was approved by a
foreign government;
124
14 CFR Ch. I (1–1–24 Edition)
§ 121.311
(
2
) That the seat was manufactured
under the standards of the United Na-
tions;
(
3
) That the seat or child restraint
device furnished by the certificate
holder was approved by the FAA
through Type Certificate or Supple-
mental Type Certificate; or
(
4
) That the seat or child restraint
device furnished by the certificate
holder, or one of the persons described
in paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section,
was approved by the FAA in accord-
ance with § 21.8(d) of this chapter or
Technical Standard Order C–100b, or a
later version. The child restraint de-
vice manufactured by AmSafe, Inc.
(CARES, Part No. 4082) and approved
by the FAA in accordance with
§ 21.305(d) (2010 ed.) of this chapter may
continue to bear a label or markings
showing FAA approval in accordance
with § 21.305(d) (2010 ed.) of this chapter.
(D) Except as provided in
§ 121.311(b)(2)(ii)(C)(
3
) and
§ 121.311(b)(2)(ii)(C)(
4
), booster-type
child restraint systems (as defined in
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
No. 213 (49 CFR 571.213)), vest- and har-
ness-type child restraint systems, and
lap held child restraints are not ap-
proved for use in aircraft; and
(iii) The certificate holder complies
with the following requirements:
(A) The restraint system must be
properly secured to an approved for-
ward-facing seat or berth;
(B) The child must be properly se-
cured in the restraint system and must
not exceed the specified weight limit
for the restraint system; and
(C) The restraint system must bear
the appropriate label(s).
(c) Except as provided in paragraph
(c)(3) of this section, the following pro-
hibitions apply to certificate holders:
(1) Except as provided in
§ 121.311(b)(2)(ii)(C)(
3
) and
§ 121.311(b)(2)(ii)(C)(
4
), no certificate
holder may permit a child, in an air-
craft, to occupy a booster-type child
restraint system, a vest-type child re-
straint system, a harness-type child re-
straint system, or a lap held child re-
straint system during take off, landing,
and movement on the surface.
(2) Except as required in paragraph
(c)(1) of this section, no certificate
holder may prohibit a child, if re-
quested by the child’s parent, guardian,
or designated attendant, from occu-
pying a child restraint system fur-
nished by the child’s parent, guardian,
or designated attendant provided—
(i) The child holds a ticket for an ap-
proved seat or berth or such seat or
berth is otherwise made available by
the certificate holder for the child’s
use;
(ii) The requirements of paragraph
(b)(2)(i) of this section are met;
(iii) The requirements of paragraph
(b)(2)(iii) of this section are met; and
(iv) The child restraint system has
one or more of the labels described in
paragraphs (b)(2)(ii)(A) through
(b)(2)(ii)(C) of this section.
(3) This section does not prohibit the
certificate holder from providing child
restraint systems authorized by this
section or, consistent with safe oper-
ating practices, determining the most
appropriate passenger seat location for
the child restraint system.
(d) Each sideward facing seat must
comply with the applicable require-
ments of § 25.785(c) of this chapter.
(e) Except as provided in paragraphs
(e)(1) through (e)(3) of this section, no
certificate holder may take off or land
an airplane unless each passenger seat
back is in the upright position. Each
passenger shall comply with instruc-
tions given by a crewmember in com-
pliance with this paragraph.
(1) This paragraph does not apply to
seat backs placed in other than the up-
right position in compliance with
§ 121.310(f)(3).
(2) This paragraph does not apply to
seats on which cargo or persons who
are unable to sit erect for a medical
reason are carried in accordance with
procedures in the certificate holder’s
manual if the seat back does not ob-
struct any passenger’s access to the
aisle or to any emergency exit.
(3) On airplanes with no flight at-
tendant, the certificate holder may
take off or land as long as the
flightcrew instructs each passenger to
place his or her seat back in the up-
right position for takeoff and landing.
(f) No person may operate a transport
category airplane that was type certifi-
cated after January 1, 1958, or a non-
transport category airplane manufac-
tured after March 20, 1997, unless it is
125
Federal Aviation Administration, DOT
§ 121.312
equipped at each flight deck station
with a combined safety belt and shoul-
der harness that meets the applicable
requirements specified in § 25.785 of this
chapter, effective March 6, 1980, except
that—
(1) Shoulder harnesses and combined
safety belt and shoulder harnesses that
were approved and installed before
March 6, 1980, may continue to be used;
and
(2) Safety belt and shoulder harness
restraint systems may be designed to
the inertia load factors established
under the certification basis of the air-
plane.
(g) Each flight attendant must have a
seat for takeoff and landing in the pas-
senger compartment that meets the re-
quirements of § 25.785 of this chapter,
effective March 6, 1980, except that—
(1) Combined safety belt and shoulder
harnesses that were approved and in-
stalled before March, 6, 1980, may con-
tinue to be used; and
(2) Safety belt and shoulder harness
restraint systems may be designed to
the inertia load factors established
under the certification basis of the air-
plane.
(3) The requirements of § 25.785(h) do
not apply to passenger seats occupied
by flight attendants not required by
§ 121.391.
(h) Each occupant of a seat equipped
with a shoulder harness or with a com-
bined safety belt and shoulder harness
must have the shoulder harness or
combined safety belt and shoulder har-
ness properly secured about that occu-
pant during takeoff and landing, except
that a shoulder harness that is not
combined with a safety belt may be un-
fastened if the occupant cannot per-
form the required duties with the
shoulder harness fastened.
(i) At each unoccupied seat, the safe-
ty belt and shoulder harness, if in-
stalled, must be secured so as not to
interfere with crewmembers in the per-
formance of their duties or with the
rapid egress of occupants in an emer-
gency.
(j) After October 27, 2009, no person
may operate a transport category air-
plane type certificated after January 1,
1958 and manufactured on or after Oc-
tober 27, 2009 in passenger-carrying op-
erations under this part unless all pas-
senger and flight attendant seats on
the airplane meet the requirements of
§ 25.562 in effect on or after June 16,
1988.
(k)
Seat dimension disclosure.
(1) Each
air carrier that conducts operations
under this part and that has a Web site
must make available on its Web site
the width of the narrowest and widest
passenger seats in each class of service
for each airplane make, model and se-
ries operated by that air carrier in pas-
senger-carrying operations.
(2) For purposes of paragraph (k)(1) of
this section, the width of a passenger
seat means the distance between the
inside of the armrests for that seat.
[Doc. No. 7522, 32 FR 13267, Sept. 20, 1967]
E
DITORIAL
N
OTE
: For F
EDERAL
R
EGISTER
ci-
tations affecting § 121.311, see the List of CFR
Sections Affected, which appears in the
Finding Aids section of the printed volume
and at
www.govinfo.gov.
§ 121.312 Materials for compartment
interiors.
(a)
All interior materials; transport cat-
egory airplanes and nontransport cat-
egory airplanes type certificated before
January 1, 1965.
Except for the mate-
rials covered by paragraph (b) of this
section, all materials in each compart-
ment of a transport category airplane,
or a nontransport category airplane
type certificated before January 1, 1965,
used by the crewmembers and pas-
sengers, must meet the requirements of
§ 25.853 of this chapter in effect as fol-
lows, or later amendment thereto:
(1)
Airplane with passenger seating ca-
pacity of 20 or more
—(i)
Manufactured
after August 19, 1988, but prior to August
20, 1990.
Except as provided in para-
graph (a)(3)(ii) of this section, each air-
plane with a passenger capacity of 20 or
more and manufactured after August
19, 1988, but prior to August 20, 1990,
must comply with the heat release rate
testing provisions of § 25.853(d) in effect
March 6, 1995 (formerly § 25.853(a–1) in
effect on August 20, 1986) (see App. L of
this part), except that the total heat
release over the first 2 minutes of sam-
ple exposure must not exceed 100 kilo-
watt minutes per square meter and the
peak heat release rate must not exceed
100 kilowatts per square meter.