Pilot Responsibility for Compliance With Air Traffic Control Clearances and Instructions

Pilots operating in areas in which air traffic control is exercised are required by regulation to comply with the clearances and instructions of air traffic controllers except in very narrow circumstances. The FAA has consistently construed and enforced this requirement as ascribing to pilots a high level of responsibility to monitor air traffic control communications attentively. Under normal circumstances, the FAA has expected pilots to understand and to comply with clearly transmitted and reasonably phrased clearances and instructions that govern their operations. Nevertheless, a series of recent National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) enforcement decisions has raised a question regarding the regulatory responsibility of pilots to hear and to comply with air traffic control clearances and instructions. This interpretive rule confirms the FAA's historical construction of its regulations that require compliance with air traffic control clearances and instructions.