Legal Briefing

Regulations And Recommendations

As general aviation pilots, we may expect to find ourselves using two kinds of airports - those with air traffic control towers and those without. At airports with open and operating air traffic control towers, air traffic controllers direct your landings and takeoffs. At airports without on-site air traffic control, pilots are left to use the regulations, FAA-recommended procedures, and prudent judgment to make decisions about how to maneuver their aircraft to approach, land, take off, and depart the airport. Let's review the procedures for departing a nontowered field, including the regulations that apply and the procedures established by the FAA.

The regulatory language is relatively clear, but not necessarily very helpful when it comes to the realities of aircraft operations. Parts 91.129(g) and 91.130(a) of the federal aviation regulations (FARs) require that each person departing from a nontowered airport within Class D or Class C airspace "must comply with any departure procedures established for that airport by the FAA." (Remember that nontowered airports within Class C and Class D airspace are not the primary airports that airspace. By definition, Class C and D airspace protects airports with operating control towers.) FAR 91.127(b) provides that the pilot departing an airport within Class E airspace "must comply with any traffic patterns established for that airport in part 93 of this chapter." There is no corresponding regulation for nontowered airports falling within Class G airspace. Thus, the regulations oblige you to comply with departure procedures at nontowered airports within Class C, D, and E airspace, but the regulations don't tell you what those procedures are.

For those nontowered airports within Class E airspace, the regulations direct pilots to FAR Part 93. Some departure procedures are established in this section, but these procedures relate to very few airports. Practically speaking, then, departures from nontowered fields in Class E and G airspace are largely governed by FAA-recommended procedures and pilot judgment.

For those nontowered airports that are located within Class C and Class D airspace, the regulations point to departure procedures established by the FAA. Unfortunately, there is no one place where these FAA-established traffic patterns are set forth. Some traffic pattern information, such as pattern altitude and direction of turns, is published in the Airport/Facility Directory. Noise abatement departure procedures are usually printed on signs at the departure end of the runway. Most often, postings or instructions can be obtained from a flight service station briefer or the local fixed-base operator. There are also occasions where an airport manager or a local authority has established departure procedures where no procedures have been established by the FAA. While a pilot may be not required by regulation to comply with the non-FAA-established procedures or other procedures put in place at nontowered fields in Class E and G airspace, good practice usually dictates following them.

In addition, the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) and FAA Advisory Circular 90-66A recommend gen- eral departure procedures that provide a backup plan for use at airports where more specific departure procedures may not have been adopted. Specifically, the AIM provides two departure alternatives: staying in the pattern and departing the pattern. If remaining in the traffic pattern, the FAA recommends that you commence a turn to crosswind leg beyond the departure end of the runway within 300 feet of pattern altitude, and then continue onto the downwind leg, watching for aircraft that may be entering the pattern on a 45-degree entry. If departing the traffic pattern, the FAA recommends that you continue straight out, or that you exit the pattern with a 45-degree turn (to the left when in a left-hand traffic pattern, to the right when in a right-hand traffic pattern) beyond the departure end of the runway after reaching pattern altitude. The FAA's recommended procedures are intended to help with the orderly flow of aircraft to and from nontowered airports, although pilots should remember that they are recommendations and they do not carry the force and effect of a regulation.

In addition to the procedures set forth by regulation and recommendation, there are the regulatory requirements contained in FARs 91.113 and 91.111 that may apply to your departure. FAR 91.113 sets out right-of-way procedures, and FAR 91.111 restricts pilots from operating an aircraft so close to another aircraft as to create a collision hazard.

As a pilot departing a nontowered airport, you are essentially your own air traffic controller. You must guide your airplane away from the airport environment in a safe, compliant manner. The regulations and procedures give you basic guidance to accomplish this, but you must also exercise good judgment in assessing the airport environment. And, always keep a sharp eye out for other traffic in the vicinity of the airport.