(a) When authorized by the certificate holder, the following persons, but no others, may be carried aboard an airplane without complying with the passenger-carrying airplane requirements in §§ 121.309(f), 121.310, 121.391, 121.571, and 121.587; the passenger-carrying operation requirements in part 117 and §§ 121.157(c) and 121.291; the requirements pertaining to passengers in §§ 121.285, 121.313(f), 121.317, 121.547, and 121.573; and the information disclosure requirements in § 121.311(k):

(1) A crewmember.

(2) A company employee.

(3) An FAA air carrier inspector, a DOD commercial air carrier evaluator, or an authorized representative of the National Transportation Safety Board, who is performing official duties.

(4) A person necessary for—

(i) The safety of the flight;

(ii) The safe handling of animals;

(iii) The safe handling of hazardous materials whose carriage is governed by regulations in 49 CFR part 175;

(iv) The security of valuable or confidential cargo;

(v) The preservation of fragile or perishable cargo;

(vi) Experiments on, or testing of, cargo containers or cargo handling devices;

(vii) The operation of special equipment for loading or unloading cargo; and

(viii) The loading or unloading of outsize cargo.

(5) A person described in paragraph (a)(4) of this section, when traveling to or from his assignment.

(6) A person performing duty as an honor guard accompanying a shipment made by or under the authority of the United States.

(7) A military courier, military route supervisor, military cargo contract coordinator, or a flight crewmember of another military cargo contract air carrier or commercial operator, carried by a military cargo contract air carrier or commercial operator in operations under a military cargo contract, if that carriage is specifically authorized by the appropriate armed forces.

(8) A dependent of an employee of the certificate holder when traveling with the employee on company business to or from outlying stations not served by adequate regular passenger flights.

(b) No certificate holder may operate an airplane carrying a person covered by paragraph (a) of this section unless—

(1) Each person has unobstructed access from his seat to the pilot compartment or to a regular or emergency exit;

(2) The pilot in command has a means of notifying each person when smoking is prohibited and when safety belts must be fastened; and

(3) The airplane has an approved seat with an approved safety belt for each person. The seat must be located so that the occupant is not in any position to interfere with the flight crewmembers performing their duties.

(c) Before each takeoff, each certificate holder operating an airplane carrying persons covered by paragraph (a) of this section shall ensure that all such persons have been orally briefed by the appropriate crewmember on—

(1) Smoking;

(2) The use of seat belts;

(3) The location and operation of emergency exits;

(4) The use of oxygen and emergency oxygen equipment; and

(5) For extended overwater operations, the location of life rafts, and the location and operation of life preservers including a demonstration of the method of donning and inflating a life preserver.

(d) Each certificate holder operating an airplane carrying persons covered by paragraph (a) of this section shall incorporate procedures for the safe carriage of such persons into the certificate holder's operations manual.

(e) The pilot in command may authorize a person covered by paragraph (a) of this section to be admitted to the crew compartment of the airplane.

[Doc. No. 10580, 35 FR 14612, Sept. 18, 1970, as amended by Amdt. 121-96, 37 FR 19608, Sept. 21, 1972; Amdt. 121-159, 45 FR 41594, June 19, 1980; Amdt. 121-232, 57 FR 48663, Oct. 27, 1992; Amdt. 121-251, 60 FR 65935, Dec. 20, 1995; Amdt. 121-253, 61 FR 2614, Jan. 26, 1996; Amdt. 121-298, 68 FR 41217, July 10, 2003; Amdt. 121-357, 77 FR 403, Jan. 4, 2012; Amdt. 121-373, 80 FR 58586, Sept. 30, 2015]