Regulation Text
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, no person may operate a civil aircraft without complying with the operating limitations specified in the approved Airplane or Rotorcraft Flight Manual, markings, and placards, or as otherwise prescribed by the certificating authority of the country of registry.
(b) No person may operate a U.S.-registered civil aircraft—
(1) For which an Airplane or Rotorcraft Flight Manual is required by § 21.5 of this chapter unless there is available in the aircraft a current, approved Airplane or Rotorcraft Flight Manual or the manual provided for in § 121.141(b); and
(2) For which an Airplane or Rotorcraft Flight Manual is not required by § 21.5 of this chapter, unless there is available in the aircraft a current approved Airplane or Rotorcraft Flight Manual, approved manual material, markings, and placards, or any combination thereof.
(c) No person may operate a U.S.-registered civil aircraft unless that aircraft is identified in accordance with part 45 or 48of this chapter.
(d) Any person taking off or landing a helicopter certificated under part 29 of this chapter at a heliport constructed over water may make such momentary flight as is necessary for takeoff or landing through the prohibited range of the limiting height-speed envelope established for the helicopter if that flight through the prohibited range takes place over water on which a safe ditching can be accomplished and if the helicopter is amphibious or is equipped with floats or other emergency flotation gear adequate to accomplish a safe emergency ditching on open water.
[Docket 18334, 54 FR 34292, Aug. 18, 1989, as amended by ; Docket FAA-2022-1355, Amdt. 91-366, 87 FR 75846, Dec. 9, 2022]
Research Notes
Section 91.9 ties the flight manual (AFM or POH), required markings, and required placards into the operational rules. The reg has three working parts: paragraph (a) requires the aircraft to be operated in compliance with its operating limitations; paragraph (b) requires the AFM/POH to be available in the aircraft for civil U.S.-registered aircraft; and paragraph (c)(d) carry over markings and placards.
What counts as "operating limitations": Operating limitations include those in the AFM, on placards, on instrument markings, and any limitations on the airworthiness certificate. The pilot must comply with all of these — they are equally binding under § 91.9(a). The redline on a tachometer is just as much a regulatory limitation as a paragraph in the AFM.
AFM availability (paragraph b): For civil U.S.-registered aircraft for which an AFM is required by § 21.5, the AFM (or POH, if it serves as the AFM) must be carried in the aircraft on each flight. "Carried" means physically present — electronic AFMs on a tablet may satisfy this when the AFM was approved/produced as an electronic document, but a scanned PDF of a paper AFM does not automatically replace the required paper AFM. The 2013 FAA letter to ALPA addresses electronic AFMs at length.
The "operated in compliance" enforcement edge: The FAA has used § 91.9 to enforce against pilots who flew aircraft outside published limitations even when no other specific rule applied — overspeed past Vne, exceeding gross weight, operating in icing in an aircraft prohibited from known icing, etc. The reg is a catch-all that captures any AFM-published limitation violation.
Markings and placards: Required instrument markings (airspeed indicator color-coding, MP redlines, etc.) must be present and legible. Required placards ("No Acrobatic Maneuvers," weight limits, fuel grade) must be installed in the locations specified by the type design.
Reference: FAA Small Airplane CoS for ongoing airworthiness framework. For electronic AFM guidance see FAA Order 8900.1 Volume 4, Chapter 15.
Amendment History
Amendment History Coming Soon
Every time this regulation changes, we'll record it here — the date, what was amended, and a plain-English summary of what shifted.