763 

Federal Aviation Administration, DOT 

§ 91.818 

that airplane has been shown to com-
ply with Stage 2 or Stage 3 noise levels 
under part 36 of this chapter. 

§§ 91.807–91.813

[Reserved] 

§ 91.815

Agricultural and fire fighting 

airplanes: Noise operating limita-
tions. 

(a) This section applies to propeller- 

driven, small airplanes having standard 
airworthiness certificates that are de-
signed for ‘‘agricultural aircraft oper-
ations’’ (as defined in § 137.3 of this 
chapter, as effective on January 1, 1966) 
or for dispensing fire fighting mate-
rials. 

(b) If the Airplane Flight Manual, or 

other approved manual material infor-
mation, markings, or placards for the 
airplane indicate that the airplane has 
not been shown to comply with the 
noise limits under part 36 of this chap-
ter, no person may operate that air-
plane, except— 

(1) To the extent necessary to accom-

plish the work activity directly associ-
ated with the purpose for which it is 
designed; 

(2) To provide flight crewmember 

training in the special purpose oper-
ation for which the airplane is de-
signed; and 

(3) To conduct ‘‘nondispensing aerial 

work operations’’ in accordance with 
the requirements under § 137.29(c) of 
this chapter. 

§ 91.817

Civil aircraft sonic boom. 

(a) No person may operate a civil air-

craft in the United States at a true 
flight Mach number greater than 1 ex-
cept in compliance with conditions and 
limitations in an authorization to ex-
ceed Mach 1 issued to the operator in 
accordance with § 91.818. 

(b) In addition, no person may oper-

ate a civil aircraft for which the max-
imum operating limit speed M

M0

ex-

ceeds a Mach number of 1, to or from 
an airport in the United States, un-
less— 

(1) Information available to the 

flight crew includes flight limitations 
that ensure that flights entering or 
leaving the United States will not 
cause a sonic boom to reach the surface 
within the United States; and 

(2) The operator complies with the 

flight limitations prescribed in para-
graph (b)(1) of this section or complies 
with conditions and limitations in an 
authorization to exceed Mach 1 issued 
in accordance with § 91.818. 

(Approved by the Office of Management and 
Budget under control number 2120–0005) 

[Docket No. 18334, 54 FR 34321, Aug. 18, 1989, 
as amended by Amdt. No. 91–362, 86 FR 3792, 
Jan. 15, 2021] 

§ 91.818

Special flight authorization to 

exceed Mach 1. 

For all civil aircraft, any operation 

that exceeds Mach 1 may be conducted 
only in accordance with a special flight 
authorization issued to an operator in 
accordance with the requirements of 
this section. 

(a) 

Application.  Application for a spe-

cial flight authorization to exceed 
Mach 1 must be made to the FAA Of-
fice of Environment and Energy for 
consideration by the Administrator. 
Each application must include: 

(1) The name of the operator; 
(2) The number and model(s) of the 

aircraft to be operated; 

(3) The number of proposed flights; 
(4) The date range during which the 

flight(s) would be conducted; 

(5) The time of day the flight(s) 

would be conducted. Proposed night op-
erations may require further justifica-
tion for their necessity; 

(6) A description of the flight area re-

quested by the applicant, including any 
environmental information required to 
be submitted pursuant to paragraph (c) 
of this section; 

(7) All conditions and limitations on 

the flight(s) that will ensure that no 
measurable sonic boom overpressure 
will reach the surface outside of the 
proposed flight area; and 

(8) The reason(s) that operation at a 

speed greater than Mach 1 is necessary. 
A special flight authorization to exceed 
Mach 1 may be granted only for oper-
ations that are intended to: 

(i) Show compliance with airworthi-

ness requirements; 

(ii) Determine the sonic boom char-

acteristics of an aircraft; 

(iii) Establish a means of reducing or 

eliminating the effects of sonic boom, 
including flight profiles and special 
features of an aircraft; 

VerDate Sep<11>2014 

14:00 Mar 14, 2024

Jkt 262047

PO 00000

Frm 00773

Fmt 8010

Sfmt 8010

Q:\14\14V2.TXT

PC31

aworley on LAPBH6H6L3 with DISTILLER