---
kind: "section"
citation: "14 C.F.R. § 136.11"
title: "14"
number: "136.11"
heading: "Rotorcraft floats for over water."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/14/136.11"
---

# §136.11. Rotorcraft floats for over water.

- (a) A rotorcraft used in commercial air tours over water beyond the shoreline must be equipped with fixed floats or an inflatable flotation system adequate to accomplish a safe emergency ditching, if—
  - (1) It is a single-engine rotorcraft; or
  - (2) It is a multi-engine rotorcraft that cannot be operated with the critical engine inoperative at a weight that will allow it to climb, at least 50 feet a minute, at an altitude of 1,000 feet above the surface, as provided in the approved aircraft flight manual for that aircraft.
- (b) Each rotorcraft that is required to be equipped with an inflatable flotation system under this section must have:
  - (1) The activation switch for the flotation system on one of the primary flight controls; and
  - (2) The flotation system armed when the rotorcraft is over water beyond the shoreline and is flying at a speed that does not exceed the maximum speed prescribed in the approved aircraft flight manual for flying with the flotation system armed.
- (c) Neither fixed floats nor an inflatable flotation system is required for a rotorcraft under this section when that rotorcraft is:
  - (1) Over water only during the takeoff or landing portion of the flight; or
  - (2) Operated within power-off gliding distance to the shoreline for the duration of the flight and each occupant is wearing a life preserver from before takeoff until the aircraft is no longer over water.

## Notes

### Amendments

[Docket FAA-2022-1563, Amdt. 136-2, 88 FR 48091, July 26, 2023]

### Source

Source: Docket FAA-1998-4521, 72 FR 6912, Feb. 13, 2007, unless otherwise noted.

### Authority

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(f), 40113, 40119, 44101, 44701-44702, 44705, 44709-44711, 44713, 44716-44717, 44722, 44901, 44903-44904, 44912, 46105.

### Source

Source: Docket FAA-2001-8690, 67 FR 65667, Oct. 25, 2002, unless otherwise noted.

### Amendments

[Docket FAA-2022-1563, Amdt. 136-2, 88 FR 48091, July 26, 2023]