On a recent foggy morning in Hagerstown, Md., I sat waiting for the visibility to improve enough for me to depart on a Part 135 passenger flight. Every airport in the region was socked in with less than a quarter mile visibility, when a somewhat agitated passenger came up to me and asked what we were waiting for. I explained 288
The Part 135 Way
On a recent foggy morning in Hagerstown, Md., I sat waiting for the visibility to improve enough for me to depart on a Part 135 passenger flight. Every airport in the region was socked in with less than a quarter mile visibility, when a somewhat agitated passenger came up to me and asked what we were waiting for. I explained that the visibility had to improve before we would be legal to depart. In an incredibly ill-timed coincidence, we heard the sound of a single-engine piston departing from somewhere in the cloud outside the door, and my passenger snidely inquired why that plane could leave, but we couldnt. I felt like I had been asked to explain Bernoullis principle to a five-year-old. It was a deceptively complicated question, and one that should be of interest to pilots flying in their own aircraft under FAR Part 91.
Key Takeaways:
- Part 135 regulations impose strict, codified minimums for IFR departures and arrivals, including required destination forecasts, departure airport approach procedures, and explicit weather minimums for takeoff and initiating/continuing approaches.
- Conversely, Part 91 operations grant pilots significant discretion, allowing departures and approaches in conditions that would be illegal under Part 135, relying heavily on personal judgment and minimums.
- The article suggests that Part 91 pilots can enhance safety by voluntarily adopting the more rigorous, structured decision-making framework found in Part 135, which contributes to its significantly lower accident rate.
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