Could I have the privilege just for 10 minutes of your time
to dive in to the regulations today, 91.119?
Hey, everyone, Jason Schappert here of MZeroA.com.
And, you are listening to the Commercial Pilot Podcast.
Brought to you by our number one-rated online ground school.
Visit MZeroA.com.
Really check it out, MZeroATrial.com,
if you want to take a two-week, free, no-strings-attached trial
of everything and get back to it.
So, a little update for you.
I realized, if you're watching this as a video,
there's a big shadow behind me.
I also realized I'm wearing a blue shirt against the blue background.
Now, if you're listening to this, you're saying,
"None of that really matters to me, Jason."
This is the first video I have made since my double hernia surgery.
So, my voice sounds a little bit different.
I'm recovering from a breathing tube that I don't even know happened.
I didn't know what happened to me.
And, apparently, when you're under anesthesia,
you just wake up and don't remember anything.
So, anyways, double hernia surgery.
So, I'm happy to be sitting right now and recovering from all of that.
But, I do want to dive into
and share a little bit about some regulations,
if I can do such with you.
So, I apologize
if I have to stop for a second because, still, I can't--
Don't make me laugh, sneeze, cough, anything like that.
And, I apologize the lights are bad
because I just couldn't reach up my hand high enough
to get the lights to get them to remove the shadow.
I figured, you know what?
The MZeroA Nation will forgive me.
While I was having my surgery,
world-famous Jamie Beckett filled in for me,
did a phenomenal, phenomenal job on Inflight Coffee
and the member-only webinar.
So, thank you so much for that, Jamie.
Anyways, before I lose my voice any more than I already have,
let's look at it.
I want to spend just 10 minutes here real quick going over 91.119,
Minimum Safe Altitudes.
Because, we have this misconception,
and we just say non-congested area is 500 feet,
congested area is 1,000 feet.
And, we spit that out with this rote level of memorization,
but the regulation actually has, really, technically four parts to it,
if we're talking helicopters, powered parachutes,
and weight shift control.
But, we're not, for the most part.
Some of you are.
But, for the most part, we're talking about three parts here.
And, I want to dive into it just a little bit further to take you beyond.
You are either already a commercial pilot or an aspiring commercial pilot.
And, I need to just tune this regulation up just a hair for you.
91.119, Minimum Safe Altitudes, general.
"Except when necessary for takeoff and landing,
no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes."
Except when necessary for takeoff and landing, makes perfect sense.
No person may operate the aircraft below the falling altitudes.
A, anywhere.
Anywhere means anywhere.
"Anywhere.
An altitude allowing, if the power unit fails,
an emergency landing--" and here's the key part,
"...without undue hazards to persons or property on the surface."
I want to read it one more time and see if the same thing that jumps out
to me jumps out to you
because you'll see this theme throughout the FAR/AIM.
"Any altitude allowing, if a power unit fails,
an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons
or property on the surface."
Did anywhere in there say about you getting hurt?
Oh, that won't cause hazard to you, or that would put the pilot-in-command
in the best place to make a forced landing.
It doesn't say anything about you.
If you want to fly low
and you want to buzz the beach or whatever it is,
as long as you don't cause hazard to persons or property on the surface.
Let me get some water here, I apologize.
I know, very unprofessional.
But, I'm recovering from double hernia surgery.
They don't care in 91.119 about us.
They care about people on the surface,
technically, persons or property on the surface.
So, if you've ever been to the beach and you're sitting at the beach
and you're wondering,
how did that airplane just go buzz the beach at 100 feet?
Or, maybe, we've just seen YouTube videos of stuff like that and you think,
"I thought there was this 500-foot rule."
No, the rule says anywhere an altitude allowing,
if a power unit fails, an emergency landing.
It doesn't say a great emergency landing where the pilot-in-command walks away,
an amazing emergency landing with plenty of time to run through their ABC checklist.
It does not say an emergency landing within 600 feet, caps available.
My serious pilots know what I'm talking about.
It doesn't say any of that.
It just says that would allow you to execute an emergency landing
without hurting people or their property on the surface.
It doesn't say anything about you or the airplane, for that matter.
Anywhere.
B is what you've heard a lot of.
Over congested areas, period.
What defines a congested area?
You see I was, long ago, told
that a congested area
is where it's yellow on the sectional chart.
And, while that's probably true,
that the yellow area on the sectional chart probably is congested,
I want to tell you that a yellow on the sectional chart
doesn't mean congested.
Yellow on the sectional chart is what that city or that township,
or whatever it is,
would look like at night when it's illuminated.
That's the shape it would look like.
So, when you see the yellow and it makes a weird shape,
it's very specific because,
when you're flying and you're looking at that city or whatever it is at night,
that's the weird odd rectangular, octagonal, is that a word,
shape that it's actually going to make.
Interesting, huh?
Probably, it is congested.
But, congested could be temporarily congested.
Let's use aviation events,
EAA, Oshkosh, AirVenture.
EAA, AirVenture, Oshkosh, three name, the same thing.
I guarantee the town of Oshkosh isn't all that congested
until AirVenture rolls around, right?
And, that is very much a congested area.
There are rock concerts that come to town that just take over a field
that's normally sparsely populated, we'll call it.
And, now, it's congested.
Open-air assemblies, it'll mention.
"B, Over congested areas.
Over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over--"
here you go,
"...open air assemblies of persons,
an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle
within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft."
Do you hear me on this?
We, so often, say, "1,000 feet.
I need to be 1,000 feet above the people."
But, that's not how it reads.
An altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle.
Now, if you're in Florida,
it's probably a radio antenna or a TV antenna, cell antenna.
Within a 2,000-feet horizontal radius of the aircraft.
Now, who's out there measuring that constantly?
That answer, I do not know.
But, so often, we just say, 1,000 feet above the congestion,
when it's 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle
within a 2,000-foot radius of the congested area
that I'm flying around.
Does that help?
Does that make sense a little bit better for you?
And then, C, over a other than congested area.
And, by the way, this term, "congested area,"
you can look up in the pilot controller glossary,
you can look in the index.
You're not going to find it.
Congested area is for us to determine.
And, really, the FAA is very good at leaving a lot of open language
in what they do.
When they leave that open language, it allows them to say,
"Yes, this is a congested area."
Well, they don't have a definition.
A congested area is any event with, per square foot, 2.3 persons.
They don't bother defining it.
They want to leave it open-ended, so in the event something happens,
they can define and say or let a jury pick that,
"Yes, this was congested."
So, in other than congested areas.
"An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except--"
Now, let me stop for a second.
How did that guy just buzz the beach?
You said, "Jason, people buzz the beach all the time they do."
"An altitude of 500 feet above the surface except over open water, or--"
here you go,
"sparsely populated areas."
We intermix these terms,
congested areas
and sparsely populated,
when sparsely populated is,
really, a benefactor of an-- other than congested area.
I feel like we all need to go do a degree
or at least just go take a contract law class.
You don't have to pass the bar to understand the FAR/AIM,
but you have to understand
where they're going with some of this stuff.
So, in over congested areas,
it was 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle.
In other than congested areas, it's 500 feet above the surface.
There's no mention of obstacles in other than congested areas.
It just says, "An altitude of 500 feet above the surface,
except over open water or sparsely populated areas.
In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet
to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure."
So, if I'm over open water or a sparsely populated area,
my aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet
to a person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.
How do people go buzzing down the beach at 100 feet?
Are they within 500 feet of a person, vessel, vehicle, or structure?
Now, just because it's legal doesn't make it smart.
Can we all agree with that?
Buzzing the beach at 100 feet is not smart,
especially,
if there's boats out there or people swimming,
because you will violate the 500 feet within them.
And, just your luck,
it's the FAA director out there swimming laps
and catches your tail number as you buzz him or her at 500 feet.
Just something to think about.
91.119 needs your undivided attention.
I want to read it in its entirety one more time, then I'll let you go,
because you need to understand it.
It's one thing at the private pilot level, 1,000 feet, 500 feet congested,
other than congested, or some people even say sparsely populated.
You're mixing your words.
"Except when necessary for takeoff or landing,
a person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes.
Anywhere.
An altitude allowing, if the power unit fails,
an emergency landing without undue hazard
to persons or property on the surface.
B, over congested areas.
Over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement,
or over any open-air assembly of persons
an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle
within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft.
And then, C,
over other than congested areas.
An altitude of 500 feet above the surface--"
I'm underlining that in my FAR/AIM, "above the surface"
versus in B,
"the highest obstacle."
I just think it's so--
And, I'm going to draw a little line connecting the two.
I think it's so fascinating,
the verbiage that we screw up.
"...500 feet above the surface, except over open water,
sparsely populated areas.
In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet
of any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure."
91.119 is your minimum safe altitudes.
Minimum, just like a 70% is passing the knowledge test,
just like barely doing the ACS guidelines,
barely meet in the ACS for your checkride,
the minimum.
We don't do minimum around here.
We do mastery around here.
That's what we're really after.
Focus on that.
I'm not in the business of currency.
I'm not in the business of doing the bare minimum,
the very little bit to get by.
I want to be proficient at all times
and in the pursuit of mastery
while I'm maintaining my proficiency.
That's how it really needs to work.
91.119, minimum safe altitudes.
You need to know them now at a commercial pilot level.
Commercial pilots, I applaud you.
Thank you for going above and beyond.
I hope you have some great holidays up ahead of you.
I'm sure you've heard a lot about
the amazing things that are happening right now at MZeroA.com.
I hope you participated in so much of that.
Thank you.
It's been such a blessing to our mission and what we're doing here.
Have a blessed, amazing, outstanding rest of your day.
And most importantly, remember,
that a good pilot is always learning.
Have a great day, everybody. I'll see you.