FAR 23.2600 — Flightcrew Interface
FAR 23.2600 explains how the cockpit, controls, and displays must be designed so pilots can fly safely without excessive workload or error.
In Plain English
FAR 23.2600 sets the design standards for the pilot compartment (cockpit) on Part 23 airplanes. The goal is simple: a pilot should be able to fly the airplane safely through every phase of flight without being overloaded.
The rule covers three main areas:
- Cockpit layout and pilot view: The compartment, its equipment, and its arrangement — including outside visibility — must let each pilot perform every duty (taxi, takeoff, climb, cruise, descent, approach, landing, and any maneuver within the operating envelope) without excessive concentration, skill, alertness, or fatigue.
- Controls and displays: Flight, navigation, surveillance, and powerplant controls and displays must be installed so the crew can monitor and perform defined tasks. The design must minimize flightcrew errors that could create additional hazards.
- Level 4 airplanes: The interface must allow continued safe flight and landing even if vision through any one windshield panel is lost.
Operationally, this is why certified airplanes have logical panel layouts, readable instruments, adequate visibility, and redundancy — it's a certification requirement, not just good design.
Regulation Text
14 CFR § 23.2600§ 23.2600 Flightcrew interface.
(a) The pilot compartment, its equipment, and its arrangement to include pilot view, must allow each pilot to perform his or her duties, including taxi, takeoff, climb, cruise, descent, approach, landing, and perform any maneuvers within the operating envelope of the airplane, without excessive concentration, skill, alertness, or fatigue.
(b) The applicant must install flight, navigation, surveillance, and powerplant controls and displays so flightcrew members can monitor and perform defined tasks associated with the intended functions of systems and equipment. The system and equipment design must minimize flightcrew errors, which could result in additional hazards.
(c) For level 4 airplanes, the flightcrew interface design must allow for continued safe flight and landing after the loss of vision through any one of the windshield panels.
[Doc. No. FAA-2015-1621, Amdt. 23-64, 81 FR 96689, Dec. 30, 2016, as amended by Doc. No. FAA-2022-1355, Amdt. 23-65, 87 FR 75710, Dec. 9, 2022]
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Oral Exam Questions a DPE Might Ask
Q1What is the overall intent of FAR 23.2600 regarding the pilot compartment?
Per FAR 23.2600(a), the cockpit, its equipment, arrangement, and pilot view must allow each pilot to perform all flight duties — from taxi through landing — without excessive concentration, skill, alertness, or fatigue.
Q2What does FAR 23.2600 require regarding the design of flight and powerplant controls and displays?
FAR 23.2600(b) requires flight, navigation, surveillance, and powerplant controls and displays to be installed so the crew can monitor and perform defined tasks, with the design minimizing flightcrew errors that could create additional hazards.
Q3What special requirement does FAR 23.2600 impose on level 4 airplanes?
Under FAR 23.2600(c), level 4 airplanes must be designed so the flightcrew interface allows for continued safe flight and landing after the loss of vision through any one windshield panel.
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§23.2270 Emergency Conditions
Occupant protection and survivable emergency-landing conditions
§23.2310 Seaplane & Amphibian Buoyancy
80% excess buoyancy and flotation after likely hull or float flooding
§23.2335 Lightning Protection
Airplane protection from catastrophic lightning effects
§23.2500 Airplane-Level Systems
System safety requirements at the complete-airplane level
§23.2145 Stability
Longitudinal, lateral, and directional airplane stability
§23.2250 Design & Construction
Design and construction principles for normal-category airplanes
Related Sections in Part 23