---
kind: "section"
citation: "14 C.F.R. § 136.9"
title: "14"
number: "136.9"
heading: "Life preservers for operations over water."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/14/136.9"
---

# §136.9. Life preservers for operations over water.

- (a) Except as provided in paragraphs [(b)](#b) or [(c)](#c) of this section, the operator and pilot in command of commercial air tours over water beyond the shoreline must ensure that each occupant is wearing a life preserver from before takeoff until flight is no longer over water.
- (b) The operator and pilot in command of a commercial air tour over water beyond the shoreline must ensure that a life preserver is readily available for its intended use and easily accessible to each occupant if:
  - (1) The aircraft is equipped with floats;
  - (2) The airplane is within power-off gliding distance to the shoreline for the duration of the time that the flight is over water; or
  - (3) The aircraft is a multiengine that can 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.
- (c) **No life preserver is required if the overwater operation is necessary only for takeoff or landing.**

## Notes

### Amendments

[Docket FAA-1998-4521, 72 FR 6912, Feb. 13, 2007, as amended by 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-1998-4521, 72 FR 6912, Feb. 13, 2007, as amended by Docket FAA-2022-1563, Amdt. 136-2, 88 FR 48091, July 26, 2023]