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835 

Federal Aviation Administration, DOT 

§ 171.159 

§ 171.155 Minimum requirements for 

approval. 

(a) The following are the minimum 

requirements that must be met before 
the Federal Aviation Administration 
will approve an IFR procedure for a 
non-Federal DME: 

(1) A suitable frequency channel 

must be available. 

(2) The facility’s performance, as de-

termined by air and ground inspection, 
must meet the requirements of 
§ 171.157. 

(3) The installation of the equipment 

must meet the requirements of 
§ 171.159. 

(4) The owner must agree to operate 

and maintain the facility in accord-
ance with § 171.161. 

(5) The owner must agree to furnish 

periodic reports, as set forth in 
§ 171.163, and must agree to allow the 
Federal Aviation Administration to in-
spect the facility and its operation 
whenever necessary. 

(6) The owner must assure the Fed-

eral Aviation Administration that he 
will not withdraw the facility from 
service without the permission of the 
Federal Aviation Administration. 

(7) The owner must bear all costs of 

meeting the requirements of this sec-
tion and of any flight or ground inspec-
tions made before the facility is com-
missioned, except that the Federal 
Aviation Administration may bear cer-
tain of these costs subject to budgetary 
limitations and policy established by 
the Administrator. 

(b) If the applicant for approval 

meets the requirements of paragraph 
(a) of this section, the Federal Aviation 
Administration commissions the facil-
ity as a prerequisite to its approval for 
use in an IFR procedure. The approval 
is withdrawn at any time the facility 
does not continue to meet those re-
quirements. 

§ 171.157 Performance requirements. 

(a) The DME must meet the perform-

ance requirements set forth in the 
‘‘International Standards and Rec-
ommended Practices. Aeronautical 
Telecommunications, Part I, Para-
graph 3.5’’ (Annex 10 to the Convention 
of International Civil Aviation). 

(b) It must be shown during ground 

inspection of the design features of the 

equipment that there will not be condi-
tions that will allow unsafe operations 
because of component failure or dete-
rioration. 

(c) The monitor must be checked pe-

riodically, during the in-service test 
evaluation period, for calibration and 
stability. These tests and ground tests 
of the functional and performance 
characteristics of the DME transponder 
must be conducted in accordance with 
the maintenance manual required by 
§ 171.161(b). 

(d) Flight inspection to determine 

the adequacy of the facility’s oper-
ational performance and compliance 
with applicable ‘‘Standards and Rec-
ommended Practices’’ must be accom-
plished in accordance with the ‘‘U.S. 
Standard Flight Inspection Manual.’’ 

[Doc. No. 10116, 35 FR 12715, Aug. 11, 1970, as 
amended by Amdt. 171–13, 50 FR 4875, Nov. 27, 
1985] 

§ 171.159 Installation requirements. 

(a) The facility must be installed ac-

cording to accepted good engineering 
practices, applicable electric and safe-
ty codes, and Federal Communications 
Commission requirements. 

(b) The facility must have a reliable 

source of suitable primary power, ei-
ther from a power distribution system 
or locally generated, with a supple-
mental standby system, if needed. 

(c) Dual transmitting equipment 

with automatic changeover is preferred 
and may be required to support certain 
IFR procedures. 

(d) There must be a means for deter-

mining from the ground, the perform-
ance of the equipment, initially and pe-
riodically. 

(e) A facility intended for use as an 

instrument approach aid for an airport 
must have or be supplemented by the 
following ground air or landline com-
munications services: 

(1) At facilities outside of and not im-

mediately adjacent to controlled air-
space, there must be ground-air com-
munications from the airport served by 
the facility. Separate communications 
channels are acceptable. 

(2) At facilities within or imme-

diately adjacent to controlled airspace, 
there must be the ground-air commu-
nications required by paragraph (e)(1)