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5 Answers

Rules for flying over water – Different if the water (Lake Michigan) is frozen??

Asked by: 3692 views FAA Regulations

Do the flotation device rules (or time, distance, etc.) apply if flying over a FROZEN lake?

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5 Answers



  1. Mark Kolber on Jan 18, 2016

    If I were (1) flying a large or fractional aircraft or (2) operating for hire (the two situations in which there is a flotation device rule), I wold keep them on board whether or not the rule required it.

    But my WAG is that it does apply. A body of water does not become less a body of water when it appears frozen. On a body of water as large as Lake Michigan, I would expect there to be varying ice thickness. Of course, I guess you could argue, since you’d probably die of exposure pretty quickly anyway, water or not, it’s superfluous.

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  2. Kris Kortokrax on Jan 20, 2016

    Better yet, how would you determine that ice covered the portion of the lake over which your route would take you?

    NOAA’s website does contain some information concerning ice cover for the Great Lakes. It shows that as of 1/19/2016, there was 12.3% ice coverage over all the Great Lakes. On 1/19/2015, there was 24.7 ice coverage. On 1/19/2014, there was 33% ice coverage.

    Flotation devices are not that heavy, nor that bulky, nor that complicated to operate. Why would you elect NOT to carry them?

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  3. Tyler Connell on Jan 20, 2016

    Kris, brings up a great point. I think you have to put safety first in this circumstance and if something goes wrong and you manage to escape it over the lake, how will this look in the eyes of the FAA. It almost sounds like you are trying to cut a corner, which usually doesn’t end well with lawyers and regulations.

    Error on the side of safety and call it a lake, not a hard surface. I’d still give the same answer if a website said it was 80% frozen. It’s not worth risking your safety or your certificates, in my opinion.

    Always remember, they can easily throw 91.13 at you for careless or reckless operation. Not bringing flotation device because a lake is frozen and you consider it to be hard enough to land on sounds a bit careless to me.

    That’s just an opinion, of course.

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  4. Skyfox on Jan 21, 2016

    Considering the regulations that specify the requirement for flotation devices, signal flares, etc. for various types of flight (ie. for hire when over water greater than the power off gliding distance from shore) make no distinction between frozen or thawed bodies of water, I’d have to say that the rules are no different. Additionally, you really don’t know whether the spot in the ice where you plan to crash is going to be thick enough to support the weight of an aircraft, so it would be best to be prepared to prevent yourself and your other occupants from following the plane down to Davy Jones’ FBO. It would be best to follow the regs in this matter and not treat frozen water the same as dry land.

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  5. Nibake on Jan 23, 2016

    Just a though:
    Maybe the OP is asking about “flotation device rules” and not whether it is a good idea. It is good to have a thorough understanding of the regs regardless of whether one is actually considering doing such a thing.

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