Donation Scenic Flight Legality

Dan208B

Well-Known Member
I was just asked about donating a scenic flight to a charity auction. Wondering about the legality of this.

-Under normal circumstances it's no problem for a pilot to take someone for a scenic ride in their airplane or even a rental
-An auction costs money of course but 100% of the money is donated to a charity so the pilot receives no compensation or reimbursement for costs
-Whoever does the flight, be it a pilot or company, pays for costs and is taking someone for a ride

So can anyone do this flight or does it need to be a commercial operator? Seems like a bit of a grey area. Technically the pilot is not receiving compensation, but I know the FAA has sometimes deemed flight time as compensation. What if the pilot feels "charitable" and isn't looking for flight time compensation? (obviously not provable). Does anyone have any insight into this? I'm trying to help sort this out for someone so they can figure out who they need to look to for a donation. Thanks for any info!
 
Any private pilot is free to spend their money to take passengers on a scenic ride. The fact that those passengers donated to a third party charity has little to do with it. I'm doing this very thing for a military spouse club auction... I'm paying for an airplane, and the spouse club is then auctioning off a 3-person tour of Boston.

The commercial pilot part comes into play when someone else donates the airplane time. In that case, the pilot is receiving flight time as compensation and therefore must be commercially rated.
 
Any private pilot is free to spend their money to take passengers on a scenic ride. The fact that those passengers donated to a third party charity has little to do with it. I'm doing this very thing for a military spouse club auction... I'm paying for an airplane, and the spouse club is then auctioning off a 3-person tour of Boston.

The commercial pilot part comes into play when someone else donates the airplane time. In that case, the pilot is receiving flight time as compensation and therefore must be commercially rated.

That's what I thought but I wanted to post this before I suggested several private pilot friends who probably wouldn't know the regs well enough regarding this. Thanks for your reply!
 
The text of which reads...
[Doc. No. FAA-1998-4521, 72 FR 6910, Feb. 13, 2007, as amended by Amdt. 91-308, 74 FR 32804, July 9, 2009]
(a) Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

Charitable event means an event that raises funds for the benefit of a charitable organization recognized by the Department of the Treasury whose donors may deduct contributions under section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. Section 170).

Community event means an event that raises funds for the benefit of any local or community cause that is not a charitable event or non-profit event.

Non-profit event means an event that raises funds for the benefit of a non-profit organization recognized under State or Federal law, as long as one of the organization's purposes is the promotion of aviation safety.

(b) Passenger carrying flights for the benefit of a charitable, nonprofit, or community event identified in paragraph (c) of this section are not subject to the certification requirements of part 119 or the drug and alcohol testing requirements in part 120 of this chapter, provided the following conditions are satisfied and the limitations in paragraphs (c) and (d) are not exceeded:

(1) The flight is nonstop and begins and ends at the same airport and is conducted within a 25-statute mile radius of that airport;

(2) The flight is conducted from a public airport that is adequate for the airplane or helicopter used, or from another location the FAA approves for the operation;

(3) The airplane or helicopter has a maximum of 30 seats, excluding each crewmember seat, and a maximum payload capacity of 7,500 pounds;

(4) The flight is not an aerobatic or a formation flight;

(5) Each airplane or helicopter holds a standard airworthiness certificate, is airworthy, and is operated in compliance with the applicable requirements of subpart E of this part;

(6) Each flight is made during day VFR conditions;

(7) Reimbursement of the operator of the airplane or helicopter is limited to that portion of the passenger payment for the flight that does not exceed the pro rata cost of owning, operating, and maintaining the aircraft for that flight, which may include fuel, oil, airport expenditures, and rental fees;

(8) The beneficiary of the funds raised is not in the business of transportation by air;

(9) A private pilot acting as pilot in command has at least 500 hours of flight time;

(10) Each flight is conducted in accordance with the safety provisions of part 136, subpart A of this chapter; and

(11) Flights are not conducted over a national park, unit of a national park, or abutting tribal lands, unless the operator has secured a letter of agreement from the FAA, as specified under subpart B of part 136 of this chapter, and is operating in accordance with that agreement during the flights.

(c) (1) Passenger-carrying flights or series of flights are limited to a total of four charitable events or non-profit events per year, with no event lasting more than three consecutive days.

(2) Passenger-carrying flights or series of flights are limited to one community event per year, with no event lasting more than three consecutive days.

(d) Pilots and sponsors of events described in this section are limited to no more than 4 events per calendar year.

(e) At least seven days before the event, each sponsor of an event described in this section must furnish to the FAA Flight Standards District Office with jurisdiction over the geographical area where the event is scheduled:

(1) A signed letter detailing the name of the sponsor, the purpose of the event, the date and time of the event, the location of the event, all prior events under this section participated in by the sponsor in the current calendar year;

(2) A photocopy of each pilot in command's pilot certificate, medical certificate, and logbook entries that show the pilot is current in accordance with §§ 61.56 and 61.57 of this chapter and that any private pilot has at least 500 hours of flight time; and

(3) A signed statement from each pilot that lists all prior events under this section in which the pilot has participated during the current calendar year.
 
The text of which reads...

All of which is a ginormous pain in the rear for organizations that have no passing knowledge of aviation regulation. For the $120 that I spend on the rental, I find it much easier to just go rent an airplane and donate a tour to charity than it its to collect my logbook history and provide a written statement to the FSDO.
 
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