FAR 91.1029 — Flight Scheduling and Locating
FAR 91.1029 explains fractional ownership program flight scheduling, locating procedures, and FAA notification requirements for overdue or missing aircraft.
In Plain English
FAR 91.1029 applies to fractional ownership programs (Subpart K) and sets the rules a program manager must follow to schedule and track program aircraft.
The program manager must:
- Establish and use an adequate system to schedule and release program aircraft.
- Have procedures to locate any flight that doesn't have a filed flight plan, including:
- At minimum, the same information that would appear on a VFR flight plan.
- Timely notification of an FAA facility or search and rescue if an aircraft is overdue or missing.
- The location, date, and estimated time for reestablishing radio or telephone contact when operating in areas where communications can't be maintained.
- Retain flight locating information at the principal base of operations (or another designated location) until the flight is complete.
If an FAA flight plan has been filed and is canceled within 25 NM of the destination, the locating procedures in paragraph (b) don't apply.
Why it matters: this regulation ensures that fractional program aircraft are tracked end-to-end so that search and rescue can be launched quickly if something goes wrong.
Regulation Text
14 CFR § 91.1029§ 91.1029 Flight scheduling and locating requirements.
(a) Each program manager must establish and use an adequate system to schedule and release program aircraft.
(b) Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, each program manager must have adequate procedures established for locating each flight, for which a flight plan is not filed, that—
(1) Provide the program manager with at least the information required to be included in a VFR flight plan;
(2) Provide for timely notification of an FAA facility or search and rescue facility, if an aircraft is overdue or missing; and
(3) Provide the program manager with the location, date, and estimated time for reestablishing radio or telephone communications, if the flight will operate in an area where communications cannot be maintained.
(c) Flight locating information must be retained at the program manager's principal base of operations, or at other places designated by the program manager in the flight locating procedures, until the completion of the flight.
(d) The flight locating requirements of paragraph (b) of this section do not apply to a flight for which an FAA flight plan has been filed and the flight plan is canceled within 25 nautical miles of the destination airport.
Oral Exam Questions a DPE Might Ask
Q1Under Subpart K, what flight locating information must a program manager have for a flight without a filed flight plan?
Per FAR 91.1029(b), the program manager must have at least the information required on a VFR flight plan, procedures for timely notification of the FAA or SAR if an aircraft is overdue or missing, and the location, date, and estimated time for reestablishing communications when operating in areas where comms can't be maintained.
Q2Where must flight locating information be kept and for how long?
FAR 91.1029(c) requires that flight locating information be retained at the program manager's principal base of operations, or at other places designated in the flight locating procedures, until the flight is complete.
Q3When do the flight locating requirements of FAR 91.1029 not apply?
Under FAR 91.1029(d), the locating requirements in paragraph (b) do not apply when an FAA flight plan has been filed and is canceled within 25 nautical miles of the destination airport.
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Related Sections in Part 91