National Air Tour Safety Standards

Commercial air tour operators currently operating under Part 91.146, 91.147, 121 or Part 135 will only need to provide information in the form of a helicopter performance plan as required in Part 136. Operators, conducting operations for charitable, nonprofit, or community events under Part 91.146 only, are required to notify the FAA of their intent to conduct such operations at least seven days prior the event and are required to provide detailed information with regards to the specifics of the event and are required to conduct the flight under a specific set of conditions and requirements as set forth by the regulation. Operators conducting flight operations under Part 91.147 will need to apply for and receive a Letter of Authorization (LOA) from the FAA. This information requirement is similar, if not less of a burden, than what would have been required of these operators had been forced to move into Part 135. The LOA will act as an Operations Specification and will provide information about each Part 91 operators business. This information will be valuable for oversight of these operators, who have conducted commercial air tour flights outside of regular FAA oversight and guidance. The FAA will use the information it collects and reviews to ensure compliance and adherence to regulations and, if necessary, take enforcement action on violators of the regulations. These are the information collection requirements to be reviewed by OMB: Pilot certification, Letter to the FSDO under 91.146 LOA’s required under 91.147 Helicopter Performance Plan under 136.13 Passenger briefings under 136.7 LOA’s/OpSpec required for issuance of B048 for Hawaiian Operations under special authorization. The information gathered in this collection is mandatory as it is required by the regulations. The collection includes reporting requirements. The information is collected as needed. 91.146 requires an operator to submit information to the FAA at least 7 days prior to an event (charitable, community, or non-profit). The information required to be submitted to the FAA office is: • a signed letter detailing the name of the sponsor, • the purpose of the event, • the date and time of the event, • the location of the event, • all prior events under this section participated in by the sponsor in the current calendar year. A photocopy of each pilot in command’s pilot certificate, medical certificate and logbook entries that shows the pilot is current in accordance with 61.56 and 61.57 of this chapter and that any private pilot has at least 500 hours of flight time; and a signed statement from each pilot that lists all prior events under this section in which the pilot has participated during the current calendar year. 91.147 requires that each operator operating under this part must apply for and receive a Letter of Authorization from the responsible Flight Standards office. 136.13 requires each operator to complete a performance plan before each helicopter commercial air tour or flight operated under 14 CFR part 91.146 and 91.147. This information is not submitted to the FAA. The Pilot in Command must review for accuracy and comply with the performance plan on the day the flight is flown. 136.7 requires that each Pilot in Command brief passengers prior to each takeoff. This information is not submitted to the FAA. For issuance of OpSpec/LOA B048, the operator must provide the FAA with a list of information which is found in the supporting statement. The purpose of this collection is to ensure that National Air Tours operate according to established safety standards and in compliance with regulations.

The latest form for National Air Tour Safety Standards expires 2026-12-31 and can be found here.

91.146 Requirements

Federal Enterprise Architecture: Transportation - Air Transportation