Advisory Circulars

Contains standards for the siting and installation of signs on airport runways and taxiways, including taxiway ending markers, location signs, runway distance remaining signs, mandatory hold signs associated with POFZ and CAT II/III operations, and many others.

This advisory circular (AC) provides a Framework for Safety Management System (SMS) development by aviation service providers. It contains a uniform set of expectations that align with the structure and format of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Framework; and Aviation Safety (AVS) policy in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Order VS 8000.367, AVS Safety Management System Requirements, Appendix B.

This advisory circular (AC) provides information about Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 21, Certification Procedures for Products, Articles and Parts (part 21). The AC covers § 2 t.3, Reporting of failures, malfunctions, and defects. This AC is not mandatory and does not constitute a regulation. This AC describes an acceptable means, but not the only means, to comply with the requirements to assist manufacturers of aeronautical products and articles in reporting to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) any defect in any product or article they manufacture. However, if you use the means described in the AC, you must follow it in all-important respects.

This advisory circular (AC) contains general information and guidance for operators planning oceanic flights, including authorizations needed for operations outside the continental United States. This includes Special Areas of Operation (SAO) such as North Atlantic Minimum Navigation Performance Specifications (NAT/MNPS), Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM), Area Navigation (RNAV), and Required Navigation Performance (RNP) airspace.

In all geographic regions, the evolution of communication, navigation, surveillance and air traffic management (CNS/ATM) is the catalyst for initiatives such as data link, RNP, RNAV, Automatic Dependent Surveillance (ADS), and RVSM.

b. Critical Areas and Procedures.

This advisory circular (AC) contains information and guidance concerning Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) production certificate (PC) holders located in the United States that plan 10 extend their PC to include a facility located in another country or jurisdiction.

Provides guidance for airman applicants, training organizations, designated examiners, and aviation safety inspectors in determining English language skills required for airman certification under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) parts 61,63 and 65.

This advisory circular (AC) provides information about Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 45, Identification and Registration Marking. This AC is not mandatory and does not constitute a regulation. This AC describes an acceptable means, but not the only means, to comply with the requirements for the installation, removal, or change of identification data and identification plates on aircraft engines. However, if you use the means described in the AC, you must follow it in all important respects.

This AC provides the primary certification guidance on how to meet the airworthiness requirements for installation of non-essential, non-required aircraft cabin systems & equipment (CS&E). We incorporate in this AC the guidance in RTCA, Inc. document RTCA/DO-313, Certification Guidance for Installation of Non-Essential, Non-Required Aircraft Cabin Systems & Equipment, dated October 2, 2008. We also clarify certain guidance in RTCA/DO-313. (See paragraph 6.)  

This AC is not mandatory and does not constitute a regulation. In it we describe a means, though it is not the only means, for manufacturers and installers to show their equipment design and installation performs its intended function. If you use the means described in this AC, however, you should follow it in all respects.

This advisory circular (AC) provides aviation safety inspectors (ASI) and air carrier management personnel with information to consider regarding certificate management and internal evaluation of operational control functions. This AC provides an accepted means, but not the only means for operators to comply with air carrier operational control regulations in Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 121, §§ 121.531 through 121.537, and guidance in Flight Standards Information Management System (FSIMS), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Order 8900.1, Volume 3, Chapter 25, Operational Control for Air Carriers. If you use the means described in this AC, you must follow the guidance in all important respects.

This advisory circular (AC) provides information and guidance on turbine engine compliance under part 33 of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR), specifically §§ 33.7, Engine ratings and operating limitations, and 33.8, Selection of engine power and thrust ratings. This AC also provides information on preparing the data needed for the type certification data sheet (TCDS) specified in § 33.7(a).

       b.  This AC is not mandatory and is not a regulation. This AC describes an acceptable means, but not the only means, to comply with Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). However, if you choose to use the means described in this AC follow it in its entirety. 

This advisory circular provides information to and applicant pursuing airworthiness certification and operational approval of and enhanced flight vision systems.

This advisory circular

CAe) provides information and guidance regarding an acceptable means, but not the only means, of compliance with th~ portions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 25.785 and 14 CFR 121.311, which deal with flight attendant seats. This material is for guidance purposes; it is not mandatory and does not constitute a regulation. The guidelines incorporated in this AC are intended to address the adequacy of new designs and are not intended to require that in·service airplanes be modified solely for the purpose of meeting them. Voluntary modifications to existing cabins are not required to meet the new criteria but modifiers should incorporate them to the extent practical considering the scope and intent of the voluntary modification.

Airworthiness Program for Airplane Systems/Fuel Tank Safety (EAPAS/FTS)” rule. That rule requires design approval holders (DAHs) and applicants to develop instructions for continued airworthiness (ICA) consisting of maintenance and inspection tasks, intervals, and procedures for the representative airplane’s electrical wiring interconnection systems (EWIS) for each affected type design. The DAH must also review any fuel tank system ICA it has developed in compliance with Special Federal Aviation Regulation No. 88 (SFAR 88) in order to ensure compatibility with the EWIS ICA, including minimizing redundant requirements. The DAH must then submit the EWIS ICA to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) oversight office for review and approval. 

a.

The guidance in this advisory circular (AC) provides one acceptable means of

b.

compliance, but not the only means, for type design approval of aircraft that have a data link

system installed.

Explains how to obtain the latest airport-related research and development (R&D) products funded by the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) Airports Organization. This AC describes R&D products from the FAA’s Airport Technology Research and Development Branch, the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP), the Innovative Pavement Research Foundation (IPRF), and the Airfield Asphalt Pavement Technology Program (AAPTP).

Provides guidance, specifications, and standards for painting, marking, and lighting of ground vehicles operating in the airport air operations area (AOA). The approved lights, colors, and markings described in the AC assure the conspicuity of vehicles operating in the AOA from both the ground and the air. The AC contains new specifications and recommendations for the painting, marking, and lighting of Towbarless Tow Vehicles (TLTVs).

This advisory circular (AC) identifies RTCA, Inc., document DO-307, Aircraft Design and Certification for Portable Electronic Device (PED) Tolerance, dated October 11, 2007, and RTCA/DO-307, Change 1, dated December 16, 2008, as an acceptable means for designing and demonstrating aircraft tolerance to potential electromagnetic interference from portable electronic devices (PEDs).

Aviation Weather Services, Advisory Circular 00-45F,  is published jointly by the National Weather Service (NWS) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This publication supplements its companion manual Aviation Weather, Advisory Circular 00-6A, which documents weather theory and its application to the aviation community. , explains U.S. aviation weather products and services. It details the interpretation and application of advisories, coded weather reports, forecasts, observed and prognostic weather charts, and radar and satellite imagery. Product examples and explanations are taken primarily from the Aviation Weather Center’s Aviation Digital Data Service

a. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is amending its operating rules to require U.S. operators flying outside the United States to carry aircraft noise certification information on board the aircraft.

b. This Advisory Circular (AC) provides guidance to affected U.S. operators that operate aircraft outside the United States with aircraft that were never required to be noise certified. If you have such an aircraft, this AC outlines the noise certification requirement dates so you can confirm that your aircraft indeed pre-dates the requirements and should be considered acceptable. We use the term “grandfathered” for these aircraft. We strongly recommend operators of such aircraft to use the FAA form in Appendix 1 that includes a grandfather clause.