Off airport operations, where is it allowed?

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Brad W

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I understand there can be local laws that prohibit aircraft operations off airport.

Is there any source for practically finding out where such laws exist...or more to the point don't exist? I wonder if any organizations maintain a list.... RAF, AOPA, etc....
Seems ridiculous to expect a pilot to have to understand ordinances and to have reasonable access to them.... and then to dig through all the possible different local laws to figure it out....

This question is born out of curiosity, not a need or desire to do it any time soon.

Lot's of stuff published out there about "back county" flying...and that takes me to my dad's hunting property in Pender County, NC. He has some land with a cleared field on it and I have daydreamed about the possibility from time to time. the field is only about 1,700 to 1,800 ft long as it is now. Probably lots of STOL type aircraft could easily get in and out of it as it is.... but it wouldn't take much to expand it to 2,000 ft or so...and to cut down the trees that are obstacles on one end
 
The FAA doesn't care as long as you're safe. A while back they were thinking about requiring a notice-to-construct to designate any landing area but they quickly backed down on that from pressure from the helicopter lobby.

The problem is the people who regulate the land on which you will be setting down. National Parks, etc... have their own rules.

No state-wide restriction as far as I know of in NC, and most counties are pretty aviation friendly. However, if you're going to call it an airport, there may be zoning issues.
 
Brad W said:
I understand there can be local laws that prohibit aircraft operations off airport.

Is there any source for practically finding out where such laws exist...or more to the point don't exist? I wonder if any organizations maintain a list.... RAF, AOPA, etc....
Seems ridiculous to expect a pilot to have to understand ordinances and to have reasonable access to them.... and then to dig through all the possible different local laws to figure it out....
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Yeah, I was curious about the same and never did figure out a way to make this question easily answerable. But I will give a piece of non-legal advice. If you ever intend to land there, make sure you're good with your neighbors. Everyone I've talked to that has succeeded on landing on their property (formally or informally) has taken neighbors for rides, or provides arial photos or established patterns that avoid their neighbors to whatever degree is safe. A little goes a long way compared to them finding out your going to be landing at your property be being startled awake at sunrise some morning after a late night party the previous evening.
 
Start with state aeronautics regulations. You can usually find them online.
 
Local groups, like your local EAA chapter are probably the best source for off-airport locations where the landowner has authorized landings. It's not necessarily back country. Might be some private uncharted landing strip like the one over here.

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It is allowed anywhere it isn't disallowed.

I landed on Spirt Lake one time and the Forest Service kicked me off/
 
Reservoirs in New York State are forbidden to float planes.
New York State Thruway is forbidden without prior permission.
Most roads in New York will get you a "Creating a Public Nuisance" or a "Disturbing the Flow of Traffic" even in an emergency. Sometimes the local court will throw it out when you show up.
I am unaware of any Bureau Of Land Management land in NYS.
Five/six years ago a super rich guy landed on his own property in northern Dutchess. Less than a week later his neighbor, over on the next super rich estate, landed on his own property and the first rich guy sued the second rich guy in a classic case of "what's for me is not for thee."
I've landed on my great uncle's farm and my son-in-laws family's farm a few times, but someone in my son-in-laws area bitched about it so I stopped. For now.
That is the extent of my knowledge in NYS.
 
Basically if you have the private land owners permission it is allowed. If it's public land, it's allowed, if not prohibited by the controlling agency. There are the Chandelier islands off the coast of Louisiana. Most are in a wildlife sanctuary and it's prohibited to land there, but one is not, and I've landed there a couple dozen times.
 
Two cases come to mind. One, ski plane landed on a frozen lake (Lake Calhoun, I believe) and pilot was ticketed by Minneapolis police for operating a motor vehicle off of the roadways in the park.

The other one was also a ski plane, landed on a snowy golf course in the Chicago area. I think that pilot also received a similar ticked from local law enforcement.
 
Every place is different.

For the most part, the FAA doesn't care where you land. But it may be restricted by state, county, or town laws or zoning regulations. You need permission from the property owner in the case of private land, otherwise it's trespassing. On government land, it varies... BLM lands are generally OK, national parks are not. Some states prohibit any non emergency off airport landings (NJ was one, but that may have changed). I once made an emergency landing in NJ which was OK, then got in trouble for flying it out again after the problem was fixed. Some restrict it-- Connecticut allows up to 30 operations per year before it has to be a state licensed airport-- and others have no restrictions. Some states allow landings on roads, others don't. Generally the farther west you go the easier it gets, until you get to the left coast where everything not compulsory is forbidden.
 
Half Fast said:
How’d the ticket cost compare to local landing fees? Might be worth it....
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What about the sand bars in the area rivers that the STOL guys like to show videos of? How do you find out who controls them?
 
Mikey52 said:
Basically if you have the private land owners permission it is allowed. If it's public land, it's allowed, if not prohibited by the controlling agency. There are the Chandelier islands off the coast of Louisiana. Most are in a wildlife sanctuary and it's prohibited to land there, but one is not, and I've landed there a couple dozen times.
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I wonder if that could be Freemason Island. Been there, done that. Good place to go "sea shelling".
 
MauleSkinner said:
Start with state aeronautics regulations. You can usually find them online.
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Not much in NC that is useful here. There's a state model code for zoning which most counties follow. Most of it involves counties and cities building and operating public-use airports.
 
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Basically, you can land anywhere you want in an emergency and not be subject to government fines or other penalties; however, regardless of emergency status, the land owner can levy fines/landing fees at their discretion and can impound the aircraft until fees are paid. Details may vary according to the jurisdiction(s) involved ... it can become very complicated. Then, come the lawyers ...

Of course, rental aircraft can land anywhere ... once.
 
Half Fast said:
How’d the ticket cost compare to local landing fees? Might be worth it....
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No idea what the fine was, but there are several airports in the Twin Cities that I've visited without any landing fees.

There was another one in Minnesota that turned out to be very expensive. Pilot landed on a lake that is inside a reservation. The native Americans confiscated the airplane and put it on display at their casino for quite some time. I seem to recall the owner got it back after paying $10,000.
 
There was a guy who made an emergency landing on the Garden State Parkway (NJ). The state police have him a ticket for improper entry to the highway (not at an on ramp) and not paying a toll
 
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