background image

567 

Federal Aviation Administration, DOT 

§ 139.5 

139.303

Personnel. 

139.305

Paved areas. 

139.307

Unpaved areas. 

139.309

Safety areas. 

139.311

Marking, signs, and lighting. 

139.313

Snow and ice control. 

139.315

Aircraft rescue and firefighting: 

Index determination. 

139.317

Aircraft rescue and firefighting: 

Equipment and agents. 

139.319

Aircraft rescue and firefighting: 

Operational requirements. 

139.321

Handling and storing of hazardous 

substances and materials. 

139.323

Traffic and wind direction indica-

tors. 

139.325

Airport emergency plan. 

139.327

Self-inspection program. 

139.329

Pedestrians and Ground Vehicles. 

139.331

Obstructions. 

139.333

Protection of NAVAIDS. 

139.335

Public protection. 

139.337

Wildlife hazard management. 

139.339

Airport condition reporting. 

139.341

Identifying, marking, and lighting 

construction and other unserviceable 
areas. 

139.343

Noncomplying conditions. 

Subpart E—Airport Safety Management 

System 

139.401

General requirements. 

139.402

Components of Airport Safety Man-

agement System. 

139.403

Airport Safety Management System 

implementation. 

A

UTHORITY

: 49 U.S.C. 106(f), 106(g), 40113, 

44701–44706, 44709, 44719, 47175. 

S

OURCE

: Docket No. FAA–2000–7479, 69 FR 

6424, Feb. 10, 2004, unless otherwise noted. 

E

DITORIAL

N

OTE

: Nomenclature changes to 

part 139 appear at 69 FR 24069, May 3, 2004. 

Subpart A—General 

§ 139.1 Applicability. 

(a) This part prescribes rules gov-

erning the certification and operation 
of airports in any State of the United 
States, the District of Columbia, or 
any territory or possession of the 
United States serving any— 

(1) Scheduled passenger-carrying op-

erations of an air carrier operating air-
craft configured for more than 9 pas-
senger seats, as determined by the reg-
ulations under which the operation is 
conducted or the aircraft type certifi-
cate issued by a competent civil avia-
tion authority; and 

(2) Unscheduled passenger-carrying 

operations of an air carrier operating 

aircraft configured for at least 31 pas-
senger seats, as determined by the reg-
ulations under which the operation is 
conducted or the aircraft type certifi-
cate issued by a competent civil avia-
tion authority. 

(b) This part applies to those por-

tions of a joint-use or shared-use air-
port that are within the authority of a 
person serving passenger-carrying op-
erations defined in paragraphs (a)(1) 
and (a)(2) of this section. 

(c) This part does not apply to— 
(1) Airports serving scheduled air car-

rier operations only by reason of being 
designated as an alternate airport; 

(2) Airports operated by the United 

States; 

(3) Airports located in the State of 

Alaska that only serve scheduled oper-
ations of small air carrier aircraft and 
do not serve scheduled or unscheduled 
operations of large air carrier aircraft; 

(4) Airports located in the State of 

Alaska during periods of time when not 
serving operations of large air carrier 
aircraft; or 

(5) Heliports. 

[Doc. No. FAA–2000–7479, 69 FR 6424, Feb. 10, 
2004, as amended by Amdt. 139–27, 78 FR 3316, 
Jan. 16, 2013] 

§ 139.3 Delegation of authority. 

The authority of the Administrator 

to issue, deny, and revoke Airport Op-
erating Certificates is delegated to the 
Associate Administrator for Airports, 
Director of Airport Safety and Stand-
ards, and Regional Airports Division 
Managers. 

§ 139.5 Definitions. 

The following are definitions of 

terms used in this part: 

Accountable executive 

means an indi-

vidual designated by the certificate 
holder to act on its behalf for the im-
plementation and maintenance of the 
Airport Safety Management System. 
The accountable executive has control 
of the certificate holder’s human and 
financial resources for operations con-
ducted under an Airport Operating Cer-
tificate. The accountable executive has 
ultimate responsibility to the FAA, on 
behalf of the certificate holder, for the 
safety performance of operations con-
ducted under the certificate holder’s 
Airport Operating Certificate. 

background image

568 

14 CFR Ch. I (1–1–24 Edition) 

§ 139.5 

AFFF 

means aqueous film forming 

foam agent. 

Air carrier aircraft 

means an aircraft 

that is being operated by an air carrier 
and is categorized as either a large air 
carrier aircraft if designed for at least 
31 passenger seats or a small air carrier 
aircraft if designed for more than 9 pas-
senger seats but less than 31 passenger 
seats, as determined by the aircraft 
type certificate issued by a competent 
civil aviation authority. 

Air carrier operation 

means the take-

off or landing of an air carrier aircraft 
and includes the period of time from 15 
minutes before until 15 minutes after 
the takeoff or landing. 

Airport 

means an area of land or 

other hard surface, excluding water, 
that is used or intended to be used for 
the landing and takeoff of aircraft, in-
cluding any buildings and facilities. 

Airport Operating Certificate 

means a 

certificate, issued under this part, for 
operation of a Class I, II, III, or IV air-
port. 

Airport Safety Management System 

(SMS) 

means an integrated collection 

of processes and procedures that en-
sures a formalized and proactive ap-
proach to system safety through risk 
management. 

Average daily departures 

means the 

average number of scheduled depar-
tures per day of air carrier aircraft 
computed on the basis of the busiest 3 
consecutive calendar months of the im-
mediately preceding 12 consecutive cal-
endar months. However, if the average 
daily departures are expected to in-
crease, then ‘‘average daily depar-
tures’’ may be determined by planned 
rather than current activity, in a man-
ner authorized by the Administrator. 

Certificate holder 

means the holder of 

an Airport Operating Certificate issued 
under this part. 

Class I airport 

means an airport cer-

tificated to serve scheduled operations 
of large air carrier aircraft that can 
also serve unscheduled passenger oper-
ations of large air carrier aircraft and/ 
or scheduled operations of small air 
carrier aircraft. 

Class II airport 

means an airport cer-

tificated to serve scheduled operations 
of small air carrier aircraft and the un-
scheduled passenger operations of large 
air carrier aircraft. A Class II airport 

cannot serve scheduled large air carrier 
aircraft. 

Class III airport 

means an airport cer-

tificated to serve scheduled operations 
of small air carrier aircraft. A Class III 
airport cannot serve scheduled or un-
scheduled large air carrier aircraft. 

Class IV airport 

means an airport cer-

tificated to serve unscheduled pas-
senger operations of large air carrier 
aircraft. A Class IV airport cannot 
serve scheduled large or small air car-
rier aircraft. 

Clean agent 

means an electrically 

nonconducting volatile or gaseous fire 
extinguishing agent that does not leave 
a residue upon evaporation and has 
been shown to provide extinguishing 
action equivalent to halon 1211 under 
test protocols of FAA Technical Report 
DOT/FAA/AR–95/87. 

Hazard 

means a condition that could 

foreseeably cause or contribute to: (1) 
injury, illness, death, damage to or loss 
of system, equipment, or property, or 
(2) an aircraft accident as defined in 49 
CFR 830.2. 

Heliport 

means an airport, or an area 

of an airport, used or intended to be 
used for the landing and takeoff of heli-
copters. 

Index 

means the type of aircraft res-

cue and firefighting equipment and 
quantity of fire extinguishing agent 
that the certificate holder must pro-
vide in accordance with § 139.315. 

Joint-use airport 

means an airport 

owned by the Department of Defense, 
at which both military and civilian air-
craft make shared use of the airfield. 

Movement area 

means the runways, 

taxiways, and other areas of an airport 
that are used for taxiing, takeoff, and 
landing of aircraft, exclusive of loading 
ramps and aircraft parking areas. 

Non-movement area 

means the area, 

other than that described as the move-
ment area, used for the loading, un-
loading, parking, and movement of air-
craft on the airside of the airport (in-
cluding ramps, apron areas, and on-air-
port fuel farms). 

Regional Airports Division Manager 

means the airports division manager 
for the FAA region in which the air-
port is located. 

Risk 

means the composite of pre-

dicted severity and likelihood of the 
potential effect of a hazard. 

background image

569 

Federal Aviation Administration, DOT 

§ 139.7 

Risk analysis 

means the process 

whereby a hazard is characterized for 
its likelihood and the severity of its ef-
fect or harm. Risk analysis can be ei-
ther a quantitative or qualitative anal-
ysis; however, the inability to quantify 
or the lack of historical data on a par-
ticular hazard does not preclude the 
need for analysis. 

Risk mitigation 

means any action 

taken to reduce the risk of a hazard’s 
effect. 

Safety area 

means a defined area com-

prised of either a runway or taxiway 
and the surrounding surfaces that is 
prepared or suitable for reducing the 
risk of damage to aircraft in the event 
of an undershoot, overshoot, or excur-
sion from a runway or the uninten-
tional departure from a taxiway. 

Safety assurance 

means processes 

within the SMS that function system-
atically to ensure the performance and 
effectiveness of risk controls or mitiga-
tions and that the organization meets 
or exceeds its safety objectives through 
the collection, analysis, and assess-
ment of information. 

Safety policy 

means the certificate 

holder’s documented commitment to 
safety, which defines its safety objec-
tives and the accountabilities and re-
sponsibilities of its employees in re-
gard to safety. 

Safety promotion 

means a combina-

tion of training and communication of 
safety information to support the im-
plementation and operation of a SMS 
in an organization. 

Safety risk management 

means a proc-

ess within the SMS composed of de-
scribing the system, identifying the 
hazards, and analyzing, assessing, and 
controlling or mitigating the risk. 

Scheduled operation 

means any com-

mon carriage passenger-carrying oper-
ation for compensation or hire con-
ducted by an air carrier for which the 
air carrier or its representatives offers 
in advance the departure location, de-
parture time, and arrival location. It 
does not include any operation that is 
conducted as a supplemental operation 
under 14 CFR part 121 or public charter 
operations under 14 CFR part 380. 

Shared-use airport 

means a U.S. Gov-

ernment-owned airport that is co-lo-
cated with an airport specified under 
§ 139.1(a) and at which portions of the 

movement areas and safety areas are 
shared by both parties. 

Unscheduled operation 

means any 

common carriage passenger-carrying 
operation for compensation or hire, 
using aircraft designed for at least 31 
passenger seats, conducted by an air 
carrier for which the departure time, 
departure location, and arrival loca-
tion are specifically negotiated with 
the customer or the customer’s rep-
resentative. It includes any passenger- 
carrying supplemental operation con-
ducted under 14 CFR part 121 and any 
passenger-carrying public charter oper-
ation conducted under 14 CFR part 380. 

Wildlife hazard 

means a potential for 

a damaging aircraft collision with 
wildlife on or near an airport. As used 
in this part, ‘‘wildlife’’ includes feral 
animals and domestic animals out of 
the control of their owners. 

N

OTE

Special Statutory Requirement To Op-

erate to or From a Part 139 Airport. 

Each air 

carrier that provides—in an aircraft designed 
for more than 9 passenger seats—regularly 
scheduled charter air transportation for 
which the public is provided in advance a 
schedule containing the departure location, 
departure time, and arrival location of the 
flight must operate to and from an airport 
certificated under part 139 of this chapter in 
accordance with 49 U.S.C. 41104(b). That stat-
utory provision contains stand-alone re-
quirements for such air carriers and special 
exceptions for operations in Alaska and out-
side the United States. Certain operations by 
air carriers that conduct public charter oper-
ations under 14 CFR part 380 are covered by 
the statutory requirements to operate to and 
from part 139 airports. See 49 U.S.C. 41104(b). 

[Doc. No. FAA–2000–7479, 69 FR 6424, Feb. 10, 
2004, as amended by Amdt. 139–27, 78 FR 3316, 
Jan. 16, 2013; Docket No. FAA–2010– 
0997;Amdt. No. 139–28, 88 FR 11671, Feb. 23, 
2023] 

§ 139.7 Methods and procedures for 

compliance. 

Certificate holders must comply with 

requirements prescribed by subparts C 
and D of this part in a manner author-
ized by the Administrator. FAA Advi-
sory Circulars contain methods and 
procedures for compliance with this 
part that are acceptable to the Admin-
istrator.