19.2 Flight Deck Management, Passenger Briefings, and Engine Starting
Key Takeaways
- 91.107(a)(1) requires the PIC to ensure each person on board is briefed on how to fasten and unfasten that person’s safety belt and, if installed, shoulder harness — before takeoff.
- 91.107(a)(3) requires each person to occupy an approved seat or berth with the safety belt and, if installed, shoulder harness properly secured during movement on the surface, takeoff, and landing.
- A child who has not reached the second birthday may be held by an adult occupying an approved seat, provided the child does not occupy or use any restraining device; booster seats and vest, harness, and lap-held child restraints are not approved for use in aircraft.
- 91.105 covers flight crewmembers: at stations with safety belt fastened during takeoff and landing and en route, and shoulder harness fastened for takeoff and landing unless it would interfere with required duties.
- Never engage the starter while the propeller is turning, respect the AFM starter duty cycle, and shut down if oil pressure does not rise within the AFM time limit after start.
91.107 — three separate duties, not one
Most candidates compress 14 CFR 91.107 into "everybody wears a seat belt." The regulation actually imposes three distinct duties, and the knowledge test separates them.
- Brief. 91.107(a)(1): no pilot may take off unless the PIC ensures that each person on board is briefed on how to fasten and unfasten that person's safety belt and, if installed, shoulder harness. This is a demonstration duty, and it happens before takeoff.
- Notify. 91.107(a)(2): no pilot may cause the aircraft to be moved on the surface, take off, or land unless the PIC ensures that each person on board has been notified to fasten the safety belt and, if installed, the shoulder harness.
- Occupy and secure. 91.107(a)(3): each person must occupy an approved seat or berth with the safety belt and, if installed, shoulder harness properly secured during movement on the surface, takeoff, and landing.
Note what paragraph (a)(3) does not say: it does not require belts during cruise. Once airborne and clear of takeoff, a passenger may unfasten — though every good briefing recommends keeping the belt loosely fastened for turbulence.
The exceptions the test asks about
- A person may be held by an adult occupying an approved seat or berth, provided the person being held has not reached the second birthday and does not occupy or use any restraining device.
- A person may use the floor as a seat if on board for the purpose of sport parachuting.
- An approved child restraint system may be used, properly secured to an approved forward-facing seat, with the child within the system's weight limit and the system bearing the required labels. Booster-type, vest-type, harness-type, and lap-held child restraints are not approved for use in aircraft.
- For seaplane and float-equipped rotorcraft operations during movement on the surface, the person pushing off from the dock and the person mooring at the dock are excepted from the seating and belt requirements.
- 91.107 does not apply to operations under parts 121, 125, or 135, and paragraph (a)(3) does not apply to persons subject to 91.105.
91.105 is the crew rule: during takeoff and landing, and while en route, each required flight crewmember must be at the crewmember station with the safety belt fastened, and must keep the shoulder harness fastened during takeoff and landing unless the crewmember would be unable to perform required duties with it fastened.
Briefing content, checklists, and cabin discipline
The regulation only mandates the belt briefing. Good practice — and the ACS risk-management elements — add the rest. The widely taught SAFETY frame is a memory aid, not a regulation: Seat belts and seats, Air vents and environment, Fire extinguisher, Exits and emergency egress, Traffic scanning and sterile-cockpit talking rules, Your questions. Add "do not touch anything unless I ask" and a positive-exchange-of-controls phrase for a front-seat passenger.
Checklists (PA.II.B.K2) come in two usable forms. Read-do is used when the workload is low and the consequence of a missed item is high — start, run-up, shutdown. Do-verify is a flow followed by a checklist read as a confirmation, and it is the right tool in flight where heads-down time is the hazard. Manufacturers' checklists are the baseline because they reflect the certification basis of that airplane.
Current and appropriate navigation data (PA.II.B.K3) is a real preflight item. Every chart carries a printed effective and expiration date; check it rather than assuming. A navigation database that is out of date does not automatically ground a VFR flight, but the pilot then has to verify the intended waypoints against a current source, which is exactly the kind of workload you do not want in the air.
Securing items and cargo (PA.II.B.K4) is a weight-and-balance issue and a projectile issue. Baggage compartments carry a placarded maximum, and that placard is a structural limit, not a suggestion. A loose flight bag that slides aft in a climb moves the CG in the direction you can least afford (Section 14.3), and anything unsecured becomes a missile in turbulence or a hard landing.
Engine starting — cause and effect
Task II.C wants starting under various conditions, starting with external power, and the limitations associated with starting.
Before the key moves: brakes set or chocks in place, the area around the propeller physically clear, beacon on, seats adjusted and locked, doors and belts secure, and the call of "CLEAR PROP" with a pause long enough for someone to answer.
| Condition | What is happening | AFM-typical procedure |
|---|---|---|
| Normal cold start | Cold fuel vaporizes poorly; the engine needs an enriched charge | Mixture rich, throttle cracked, prime per AFM, fuel pump per AFM, then crank |
| Flooded start | Too much liquid fuel; the mixture is too rich to ignite | Mixture to idle cutoff, throttle full open, crank to clear the cylinders; when it fires, mixture rich and throttle back |
| Hot start (fuel injected) | Fuel in the lines has vaporized against a hot engine — vapor lock | Purge the hot fuel with the boost pump, then a lean mixture and cracked throttle per the AFM |
| Cold weather | Oil is thick and the battery is weak | Preheat the engine and cabin; expect slow oil-pressure rise and honor the AFM limit |
| External power | A ground power unit supplies cranking current | Follow the AFM exactly — observe polarity, and set master and avionics as the AFM directs before connecting and disconnecting |
Limitations (PA.II.C.K3) that show up as test items:
- Never engage the starter while the propeller is turning. Meshing a starter with a rotating ring gear damages both.
- Respect the starter duty cycle in the AFM — a typical light-airplane limit is on the order of ten seconds of cranking followed by a cooling period, because starters overheat quickly.
- If oil pressure does not rise into the green within the AFM time limit after the engine starts — commonly about 30 seconds, longer in very cold weather — shut down immediately. An engine running without indicated oil pressure is being destroyed.
- Watch the starter-engaged annunciator after start; a starter that stays engaged will fail and can cause a fire (Section 11.4).
- Bring avionics on after the start, not before, so the master-bus voltage transient during cranking does not reach the radios.
A private pilot is taking a family flight with a 15-month-old child. What does 14 CFR 91.107 permit?
An engine floods during a warm restart. What does the standard flooded-start procedure call for, and why?
Fifteen seconds after a normal start on a mild day, the oil pressure gauge is still reading zero. What is the correct action and the reason?