469 

Federal Aviation Administration, DOT 

§ 135.211 

(1) Aircraft issued an original air-

worthiness certificate within the pre-
ceding 36 calendar months; and 

(2) Aircraft operated under a weight 

and balance system approved in the op-
erations specifications of the certifi-
cate holder. 

Subpart D—VFR/IFR Operating 

Limitations and Weather Re-
quirements 

§ 135.201 Applicability. 

This subpart prescribes the operating 

limitations for VFR/IFR flight oper-
ations and associated weather require-
ments for operations under this part. 

§ 135.203 VFR: Minimum altitudes. 

Except when necessary for takeoff 

and landing, no person may operate 
under VFR— 

(a) An airplane— 
(1) During the day, below 500 feet 

above the surface or less than 500 feet 
horizontally from any obstacle; or 

(2) At night, at an altitude less than 

1,000 feet above the highest obstacle 
within a horizontal distance of 5 miles 
from the course intended to be flown 
or, in designated mountainous terrain, 
less than 2,000 feet above the highest 
obstacle within a horizontal distance of 
5 miles from the course intended to be 
flown; or 

(b) A helicopter over a congested area 

at an altitude less than 300 feet above 
the surface. 

§ 135.205 VFR: Visibility requirements. 

(a) No person may operate an air-

plane under VFR in uncontrolled air-
space when the ceiling is less than 1,000 
feet unless flight visibility is at least 2 
miles. 

(b) No person may operate a heli-

copter under VFR in Class G airspace 
at an altitude of 1,200 feet or less above 
the surface or within the lateral bound-
aries of the surface areas of Class B, 
Class C, Class D, or Class E airspace 
designated for an airport unless the 
visibility is at least— 

(1) During the day—

1

⁄

2

mile; or 

(2) At night—1 mile. 

[Doc. No. 16097, 43 FR 46783, Oct. 10, 1978, as 
amended by Amdt. 135–41, 56 FR 65663, Dec. 
17, 1991] 

§ 135.207 VFR: Helicopter surface ref-

erence requirements. 

No person may operate a helicopter 

under VFR unless that person has vis-
ual surface reference or, at night, vis-
ual surface light reference, sufficient 
to safely control the helicopter. 

§ 135.209 VFR: Fuel supply. 

(a) No person may begin a flight op-

eration in an airplane under VFR un-
less, considering wind and forecast 
weather conditions, it has enough fuel 
to fly to the first point of intended 
landing and, assuming normal cruising 
fuel consumption— 

(1) During the day, to fly after that 

for at least 30 minutes; or 

(2) At night, to fly after that for at 

least 45 minutes. 

(b) No person may begin a flight op-

eration in a helicopter under VFR un-
less, considering wind and forecast 
weather conditions, it has enough fuel 
to fly to the first point of intended 
landing and, assuming normal cruising 
fuel consumption, to fly after that for 
at least 20 minutes. 

§ 135.211 VFR: Over-the-top carrying 

passengers: Operating limitations. 

Subject to any additional limitations 

in § 135.181, no person may operate an 
aircraft under VFR over-the-top car-
rying passengers, unless— 

(a) Weather reports or forecasts, or 

any combination of them, indicate that 
the weather at the intended point of 
termination of over-the-top flight— 

(1) Allows descent to beneath the 

ceiling under VFR and is forecast to re-
main so until at least 1 hour after the 
estimated time of arrival at that point; 
or 

(2) Allows an IFR approach and land-

ing with flight clear of the clouds until 
reaching the prescribed initial ap-
proach altitude over the final approach 
facility, unless the approach is made 
with the use of radar under § 91.175(i) of 
this chapter; or 

(b) It is operated under conditions al-

lowing— 

(1) For multiengine aircraft, descent 

or continuation of the flight under 
VFR if its critical engine fails; or 

470 

14 CFR Ch. I (1–1–24 Edition) 

§ 135.213 

(2) For single-engine aircraft, descent 

under VFR if its engine fails. 

[Doc. No. 16097, 43 FR 46783, Oct. 10, 1978, as 
amended by Amdt. 135–32, 54 FR 34332, Aug. 
18, 1989; 73 FR 20164, Apr. 15, 2008] 

§ 135.213 Weather reports and fore-

casts. 

(a) Whenever a person operating an 

aircraft under this part is required to 
use a weather report or forecast, that 
person shall use that of the U.S. Na-
tional Weather Service, a source ap-
proved by the U.S. National Weather 
Service, or a source approved by the 
Administrator. However, for operations 
under VFR, the pilot in command may, 
if such a report is not available, use 
weather information based on that pi-
lot’s own observations or on those of 
other persons competent to supply ap-
propriate observations. 

(b) For the purposes of paragraph (a) 

of this section, weather observations 
made and furnished to pilots to con-
duct IFR operations at an airport must 
be taken at the airport where those 
IFR operations are conducted, unless 
the Administrator issues operations 
specifications allowing the use of 
weather observations taken at a loca-
tion not at the airport where the IFR 
operations are conducted. The Admin-
istrator issues such operations speci-
fications when, after investigation by 
the U.S. National Weather Service and 
the responsible Flight Standards office, 
it is found that the standards of safety 
for that operation would allow the de-
viation from this paragraph for a par-
ticular operation for which an air car-
rier operating certificate or operating 
certificate has been issued. 

[Doc. No. 16097, 43 FR 46783, Oct. 10, 1978, as 
amended by Amdt. 135–60, 61 FR 2616, Jan. 26, 
1996; Docket FAA–2018–0119, Amdt. 135–139, 83 
FR 9175, Mar. 5, 2018] 

§ 135.215 IFR: Operating limitations. 

(a) Except as provided in paragraphs 

(b), (c) and (d) of this section, no person 
may operate an aircraft under IFR out-
side of controlled airspace or at any 
airport that does not have an approved 
standard instrument approach proce-
dure. 

(b) The Administrator may issue op-

erations specifications to the certifi-
cate holder to allow it to operate under 

IFR over routes outside controlled air-
space if— 

(1) The certificate holder shows the 

Administrator that the flight crew is 
able to navigate, without visual ref-
erence to the ground, over an intended 
track without deviating more than 5 
degrees or 5 miles, whichever is less, 
from that track; and 

(2) The Administrator determines 

that the proposed operations can be 
conducted safely. 

(c) A person may operate an aircraft 

under IFR outside of controlled air-
space if the certificate holder has been 
approved for the operations and that 
operation is necessary to— 

(1) Conduct an instrument approach 

to an airport for which there is in use 
a current approved standard or special 
instrument approach procedure; or 

(2) Climb into controlled airspace 

during an approved missed approach 
procedure; or 

(3) Make an IFR departure from an 

airport having an approved instrument 
approach procedure. 

(d) The Administrator may issue op-

erations specifications to the certifi-
cate holder to allow it to depart at an 
airport that does not have an approved 
standard instrument approach proce-
dure when the Administrator deter-
mines that it is necessary to make an 
IFR departure from that airport and 
that the proposed operations can be 
conducted safely. The approval to oper-
ate at that airport does not include an 
approval to make an IFR approach to 
that airport. 

§ 135.217 IFR: Takeoff limitations. 

No person may takeoff an aircraft 

under IFR from an airport where 
weather conditions are at or above 
takeoff minimums but are below au-
thorized IFR landing minimums unless 
there is an alternate airport within 1 
hour’s flying time (at normal cruising 
speed, in still air) of the airport of de-
parture. 

§ 135.219 IFR: Destination airport 

weather minimums. 

No person may take off an aircraft 

under IFR or begin an IFR or over-the- 
top operation unless the latest weather 
reports or forecasts, or any combina-
tion of them, indicate that weather