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239 

Federal Aviation Administration, DOT 

§ 121.646 

(3) After that, to fly to and land at 

the most distant alternate airport 
specified in the flight release, if an al-
ternate is required; and 

(4) After that, to fly for 30 minutes at 

holding speed at 1,500 feet above the al-
ternate airport (or the destination air-
port if no alternate is required) under 
standard temperature conditions. 

(c) No person may release a turbine- 

engine powered airplane (other than a 
turbo-propeller airplane) to an airport 
for which an alternate is not specified 
under § 121.621(a)(2) or § 121.623(b) unless 
it has enough fuel, considering wind 
and other weather conditions expected, 
to fly to that airport and thereafter to 
fly for at least two hours at normal 
cruising fuel consumption. 

(d) The Administrator may amend 

the operations specifications of a cer-
tificate holder conducting flag or sup-
plemental operations to require more 
fuel than any of the minimums stated 
in paragraph (a) or (b) of this section if 
he finds that additional fuel is nec-
essary on a particular route in the in-
terest of safety. 

(e) For a supplemental operation 

within the 48 contiguous States and 
the District of Columbia with a turbine 
engine powered airplane the fuel re-
quirements of § 121.643 apply. 

[Doc. No. 6258, 29 FR 19222, Dec. 31, 1964, as 
amended by Amdt. 121–10, 30 FR 10025, Aug. 
12, 1965; Amdt. 121–144, 43 FR 22649, May 25, 
1978; Amdt. 121–253, 61 FR 2615, Jan. 26, 1996] 

§ 121.646 En-route fuel supply: flag and 

supplemental operations. 

(a) No person may dispatch or release 

for flight a turbine-engine powered air-
plane with more than two engines for a 
flight more than 90 minutes (with all 
engines operating at cruise power) 
from an Adequate Airport unless the 
following fuel supply requirements are 
met: 

(1) The airplane has enough fuel to 

meet the requirements of § 121.645(b); 

(2) The airplane has enough fuel to 

fly to the Adequate Airport— 

(i) Assuming a rapid decompression 

at the most critical point; 

(ii) Assuming a descent to a safe alti-

tude in compliance with the oxygen 
supply requirements of § 121.333; and 

(iii) Considering expected wind and 

other weather conditions. 

(3) The airplane has enough fuel to 

hold for 15 minutes at 1500 feet above 
field elevation and conduct a normal 
approach and landing. 

(b) No person may dispatch or release 

for flight an ETOPS flight unless, con-
sidering wind and other weather condi-
tions expected, it has the fuel other-
wise required by this part and enough 
fuel to satisfy each of the following re-
quirements: 

(1) Fuel to fly to an ETOPS Alternate 

Airport. 

(i) Fuel to account for rapid decom-

pression and engine failure. The air-
plane must carry the greater of the fol-
lowing amounts of fuel: 

(A) Fuel sufficient to fly to an 

ETOPS Alternate Airport assuming a 
rapid decompression at the most crit-
ical point followed by descent to a safe 
altitude in compliance with the oxygen 
supply requirements of § 121.333 of this 
chapter; 

(B) Fuel sufficient to fly to an 

ETOPS Alternate Airport (at the one- 
engine-inoperative cruise speed) as-
suming a rapid decompression and a si-
multaneous engine failure at the most 
critical point followed by descent to a 
safe altitude in compliance with the 
oxygen requirements of § 121.333 of this 
chapter; or 

(C) Fuel sufficient to fly to an 

ETOPS Alternate Airport (at the one 
engine inoperative cruise speed) assum-
ing an engine failure at the most crit-
ical point followed by descent to the 
one engine inoperative cruise altitude. 

(ii) Fuel to account for errors in wind 

forecasting. In calculating the amount 
of fuel required by paragraph (b)(1)(i) of 
this section, the certificate holder 
must increase the actual forecast wind 
speed by 5% (resulting in an increase in 
headwind or a decrease in tailwind) to 
account for any potential errors in 
wind forecasting. If a certificate holder 
is not using the actual forecast wind 
based on a wind model accepted by the 
FAA, the airplane must carry addi-
tional fuel equal to 5% of the fuel re-
quired for paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this 
section, as reserve fuel to allow for er-
rors in wind data. 

(iii) Fuel to account for icing. In cal-

culating the amount of fuel required by 
paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section (after 
completing the wind calculation in 

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240 

14 CFR Ch. I (1–1–24 Edition) 

§ 121.647 

paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section), the 
certificate holder must ensure that the 
airplane carries the greater of the fol-
lowing amounts of fuel in anticipation 
of possible icing during the diversion: 

(A) Fuel that would be burned as a 

result of airframe icing during 10 per-
cent of the time icing is forecast (in-
cluding the fuel used by engine and 
wing anti-ice during this period). 

(B) Fuel that would be used for en-

gine anti-ice, and if appropriate wing 
anti-ice, for the entire time during 
which icing is forecast. 

(iv) Fuel to account for engine dete-

rioration. In calculating the amount of 
fuel required by paragraph (b)(1)(i) of 
this section (after completing the wind 
calculation in paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of 
this section), the airplane also carries 
fuel equal to 5% of the fuel specified 
above, to account for deterioration in 
cruise fuel burn performance unless the 
certificate holder has a program to 
monitor airplane in-service deteriora-
tion to cruise fuel burn performance. 

(2) Fuel to account for holding, ap-

proach, and landing. In addition to the 
fuel required by paragraph (b)(1) of this 
section, the airplane must carry fuel 
sufficient to hold at 1500 feet above 
field elevation for 15 minutes upon 
reaching an ETOPS Alternate Airport 
and then conduct an instrument ap-
proach and land. 

(3) Fuel to account for APU use. If an 

APU is a required power source, the 
certificate holder must account for its 
fuel consumption during the appro-
priate phases of flight. 

[Doc. No. FAA–2002–6717, 72 FR 1882, Jan. 16, 
2007, as amended by Amdt. 121–348, 75 FR 
12121, Mar. 15, 2010] 

§ 121.647 Factors for computing fuel 

required. 

Each person computing fuel required 

for the purposes of this subpart shall 
consider the following: 

(a) Wind and other weather condi-

tions forecast. 

(b) Anticipated traffic delays. 
(c) One instrument approach and pos-

sible missed approach at destination. 

(d) Any other conditions that may 

delay landing of the aircraft. 

For the purposes of this section, re-
quired fuel is in addition to unusable 
fuel. 

§ 121.649 Takeoff and landing weather 

minimums: VFR: Domestic oper-

ations. 

(a) Except as provided in paragraph 

(b) of this section, regardless of any 
clearance from ATC, no pilot may 
takeoff or land an airplane under VFR 
when the reported ceiling or visibility 
is less than the following: 

(1) For day operations—1,000-foot 

ceiling and one-mile visibility. 

(2) For night operations—1,000-foot 

ceiling and two-mile visibility. 

(b) Where a local surface restriction 

to visibility exists (e.g., smoke, dust, 
blowing snow or sand) the visibility for 
day and night operations may be re-
duced to 

1

2

mile, if all turns after take-

off and prior to landing, and all flight 
beyond one mile from the airport 
boundary can be accomplished above or 
outside the area of local surface visi-
bility restriction. 

(c) The weather minimums in this 

section do not apply to the VFR oper-
ation of fixed-wing aircraft at any of 
the locations where the special weather 
minimums of § 91.157 of this chapter are 
not applicable (See part 91, appendix D, 
section 3 of this chapter). The basic 
VFR weather minimums of § 91.155 of 
this chapter apply at those locations. 

[Doc. No. 6258, 29 FR 19222, Dec. 31, 1964, as 
amended by Amdt. 121–39, 33 FR 4097, Mar. 2, 
1968; Amdt. 121–206, 54 FR 34331, Aug. 18, 1989; 
Amdt. 121–226, 56 FR 65663, Dec. 17, 1991] 

§ 121.651 Takeoff and landing weather 

minimums: IFR: All certificate hold-

ers. 

(a) Notwithstanding any clearance 

from ATC, no pilot may begin a takeoff 
in an airplane under IFR when the 
weather conditions reported by the 
U.S. National Weather Service, a 
source approved by that Service, or a 
source approved by the Administrator, 
are less than those specified in— 

(1) The certificate holder’s operations 

specifications; or 

(2) Parts 91 and 97 of this chapter, if 

the certificate holder’s operations 
specifications do not specify takeoff 
minimums for the airport. 

(b) Except as provided in paragraphs 

(d) and (e) of this section, no pilot may 
continue an approach past the final ap-
proach fix, or where a final approach 
fix is not used, begin the final approach