223 

Federal Aviation Administration, DOT 

§ 121.583 

(c) For any airplane type certificated 

before December 20, 1995, for not more 
than 30 passengers that does not have 
an observer seat on the flightdeck, the 
certificate holder must provide a for-
ward passenger seat with headset or 
speaker for occupancy by the Adminis-
trator while conducting en route in-
spections. 

[Doc. No. 6258, 29 FR 19219, Dec. 31, 1964, as 
amended by Amdt. 121–144, 43 FR 22648, May 
25, 1978; Amdt. 121–251, 60 FR 65935, Dec. 20, 
1995; Amdt. 121–288, 67 FR 2128, Jan. 15, 2002] 

§ 121.582 Means to discreetly notify a 

flightcrew. 

Except for all-cargo operations as de-

fined in § 110.2 of this chapter, after Oc-
tober 15, 2007, for all passenger car-
rying airplanes that require a lockable 
flightdeck door in accordance with 
§ 121.313(f), the certificate holder must 
have an approved means by which the 
cabin crew can discreetly notify the 
flightcrew in the event of suspicious 
activity or security breaches in the 
cabin. 

[Doc. No. FAA–2005–22449, 72 FR 45635, Aug. 
15, 2007, as amended by Amdt. 121–353, 76 FR 
7488, Feb. 10, 2011] 

§ 121.583 Carriage of persons without 

compliance with the passenger-car-
rying requirements of this part. 

(a) When authorized by the certifi-

cate holder, the following persons, but 
no others, may be carried aboard an 
airplane without complying with the 
passenger-carrying airplane require-
ments in §§ 121.309(f), 121.310, 121.391, 
121.571, and 121.587; the passenger-car-
rying operation requirements in part 
117 and §§ 121.157(c) and 121.291; the re-
quirements pertaining to passengers in 
§§ 121.285, 121.313(f), 121.317, 121.547, and 
121.573; and the information disclosure 
requirements in § 121.311(k): 

(1) A crewmember. 
(2) A company employee. 
(3) An FAA air carrier inspector, a 

DOD commercial air carrier evaluator, 
or an authorized representative of the 
National Transportation Safety Board, 
who is performing official duties. 

(4) A person necessary for— 
(i) The safety of the flight; 
(ii) The safe handling of animals; 

(iii) The safe handling of hazardous 

materials whose carriage is governed 
by regulations in 49 CFR part 175; 

(iv) The security of valuable or con-

fidential cargo; 

(v) The preservation of fragile or per-

ishable cargo; 

(vi) Experiments on, or testing of, 

cargo containers or cargo handling de-
vices; 

(vii) The operation of special equip-

ment for loading or unloading cargo; 
and 

(viii) The loading or unloading of 

outsize cargo. 

(5) A person described in paragraph 

(a)(4) of this section, when traveling to 
or from his assignment. 

(6) A person performing duty as an 

honor guard accompanying a shipment 
made by or under the authority of the 
United States. 

(7) A military courier, military route 

supervisor, military cargo contract co-
ordinator, or a flight crewmember of 
another military cargo contract air 
carrier or commercial operator, carried 
by a military cargo contract air carrier 
or commercial operator in operations 
under a military cargo contract, if that 
carriage is specifically authorized by 
the appropriate armed forces. 

(8) A dependent of an employee of the 

certificate holder when traveling with 
the employee on company business to 
or from outlying stations not served by 
adequate regular passenger flights. 

(b) No certificate holder may operate 

an airplane carrying a person covered 
by paragraph (a) of this section un-
less— 

(1) Each person has unobstructed ac-

cess from his seat to the pilot compart-
ment or to a regular or emergency exit; 

(2) The pilot in command has a 

means of notifying each person when 
smoking is prohibited and when safety 
belts must be fastened; and 

(3) The airplane has an approved seat 

with an approved safety belt for each 
person. The seat must be located so 
that the occupant is not in any posi-
tion to interfere with the flight crew-
members performing their duties. 

(c) Before each takeoff, each certifi-

cate holder operating an airplane car-
rying persons covered by paragraph (a) 
of this section shall ensure that all 

224 

14 CFR Ch. I (1–1–24 Edition) 

§ 121.584 

such persons have been orally briefed 
by the appropriate crewmember on— 

(1) Smoking; 
(2) The use of seat belts; 
(3) The location and operation of 

emergency exits; 

(4) The use of oxygen and emergency 

oxygen equipment; and 

(5) For extended overwater oper-

ations, the location of life rafts, and 
the location and operation of life pre-
servers including a demonstration of 
the method of donning and inflating a 
life preserver. 

(d) Each certificate holder operating 

an airplane carrying persons covered 
by paragraph (a) of this section shall 
incorporate procedures for the safe car-
riage of such persons into the certifi-
cate holder’s operations manual. 

(e) The pilot in command may au-

thorize a person covered by paragraph 
(a) of this section to be admitted to the 
crew compartment of the airplane. 

[Doc. No. 10580, 35 FR 14612, Sept. 18, 1970, as 
amended by Amdt. 121–96, 37 FR 19608, Sept. 
21, 1972; Amdt. 121–159, 45 FR 41594, June 19, 
1980; Amdt. 121–232, 57 FR 48663, Oct. 27, 1992; 
Amdt. 121–251, 60 FR 65935, Dec. 20, 1995; 
Amdt. 121–253, 61 FR 2614, Jan. 26, 1996; Amdt. 
121–298, 68 FR 41217, July 10, 2003; Amdt. 121– 
357, 77 FR 403, Jan. 4, 2012; Amdt. 121–373, 80 
FR 58586, Sept. 30, 2015] 

§ 121.584 Requirement to view the 

area outside the flightdeck door. 

From the time the airplane moves in 

order to initiate a flight segment 
through the end of that flight segment, 
no person may unlock or open the 
flightdeck door unless: 

(a) A person authorized to be on the 

flightdeck uses an approved audio pro-
cedure and an approved visual device to 
verify that: 

(1) The area outside the flightdeck 

door is secure, and; 

(2) If someone outside the flightdeck 

is seeking to have the flightdeck door 
opened, that person is not under du-
ress, and; 

(3) If the airplane is in flight, any in-

stalled physical secondary barrier 
(IPSB) required by § 121.313(l) has been 
deployed; and 

(b) After the requirements of para-

graph (a) of this section have been sat-
isfactorily accomplished, the crew-
member in charge on the flightdeck au-

thorizes the door to be unlocked and 
open. 

[Amdt. 121–334, 72 FR 45635, Aug. 15, 2007, as 
amended by Amdt. No. 121–389, 88 FR 41308, 
June 26, 2023] 

§ 121.585 Exit seating. 

(a)(1) Each certificate holder shall 

determine, to the extent necessary to 
perform the applicable functions of 
paragraph (d) of this section, the suit-
ability of each person it permits to oc-
cupy an exit seat, in accordance with 
this section. For the purpose of this 
section— 

(i) 

Exit seat 

means— 

(A) Each seat having direct access to 

an exit; and, 

(B) Each seat in a row of seats 

through which passengers would have 
to pass to gain access to an exit, from 
the first seat inboard of the exit to the 
first aisle inboard of the exit. 

(ii) A passenger seat having ‘‘direct 

access’’ means a seat from which a pas-
senger can proceed directly to the exit 
without entering an aisle or passing 
around an obstruction. 

(2) Each certificate holder shall make 

the passenger exit seating determina-
tions required by this paragraph in a 
non-discriminatory manner consistent 
with the requirements of this section, 
by persons designated in the certificate 
holder’s required operations manual. 

(3) Each certificate holder shall des-

ignate the exit seats for each passenger 
seating configuration in its fleet in ac-
cordance with the definitions in this 
paragraph and submit those designa-
tions for approval as part of the proce-
dures required to be submitted for ap-
proval under paragraphs (n) and (p) of 
this section. 

(b) No certificate holder may seat a 

person in a seat affected by this section 
if the certificate holder determines 
that it is likely that the person would 
be unable to perform one or more of 
the applicable functions listed in para-
graph (d) of this section because— 

(1) The person lacks sufficient mobil-

ity, strength, or dexterity in both arms 
and hands, and both legs: 

(i) To reach upward, sideways, and 

downward to the location of emergency 
exit and exit-slide operating mecha-
nisms;