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Kentucky · Snapshot 09/05/2026

KRS 183.011: Definitions of aviation terms for chapter.

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  1. KRS Chapter 183

As used in this chapter:

(1) "Aeronautics" means the science and art of flight and includes but is not limited to

transportation by aircraft; the operation, construction, repair, or maintenance of

aircraft, aircraft power plants, and accessories, including the repair, packing, and

maintenance of parachutes; the design, establishment, construction, extension,

operation, improvement, repair, or maintenance of airports or other air navigation

facilities; and instruction in flying or ground subjects pertaining thereto;

(2) "Aircraft" means any contrivance now known, or hereafter invented, used or

designed for navigation of or flight in the air;

(3) "Air navigation" means the operation or navigation of aircraft in the air space over

this state, or upon any airport within this state;

(4) "Airport" means any area, of land or water, which is designed for the landing and

take-off of aircraft, whether or not facilities are provided for the shelter, servicing,

or repair of aircraft, or for receiving or discharging passengers or cargo, and all

appurtenant areas used or suitable for airport building or other airport facilities, and

all appurtenant rights-of-way, whether theretofore or hereinafter established;

(5) "Airport board," "air board," or "board" means a board established as provided in

this chapter and any airport board or air board created pursuant to the provisions of

KRS Chapter 183 as it existed prior to the enactment of 1960 Ky. Acts ch. 179 shall

be deemed to have been established pursuant to this chapter with all of the powers,

functions, and duties as herein prescribed;

(6) "Airport facilities" includes land, buildings, equipment, runways, and other

improvements and appurtenances necessary for the establishment and maintenance

of airports;

(7) "Airport hazard" means any structure, object , or natural growth, or use of land,

which obstructs the air space required for the flight of aircraft in landing or taking

off at any airport or is otherwise hazardous to such landing or taking off;

(8) "Certificate" means a certificate issued by the cabinet;

(9) "Civil aircraft" means any aircraft other than a public aircraft;

(10) "Charter operator" means all persons who transport or seek to transport persons or

property in intrastate commerce for hire on unscheduled service and not between

fixed points;

(11) "Commercial airport" means an airport certified by the Federal Aviation

Administration in accordance with 14 C.F.R. pt. 139;

(12) "Common carrier" shall include all carriers for hire or compensation by air who

operate, or seek to operate, over fixed routes or between fixed termini within the

Commonwealth of Kentucky;

(13) "Commuter air carrier" means a common carrier of persons or property in intrastate

commerce for hire or compensation by air, operating under 14 C.F.R. pt. 135 or

other appropriate parts or regulations and who operates or seeks to operate on

regular schedules wit h multi-engine aircraft between two (2) or more fixed airport

termini or over fixed routes only within the Commonwealth of Kentucky and

publishes flight schedules which specify the times, days of week, and places

between which such flights are performed;

(14) "Development" and "airport development" mean:

(a) Any work involved in planning, designing, constructing, improving, or

repairing a public airport or portion thereof, including the construction,

alteration, and repair of airport buildings and the remov al, lowering,

relocation, and marking and lighting of airport hazards; and

(b) Any acquisition of land, or any interest therein, or of any easement through or

other interest in air space which is necessary to permit any required work or to

remove, mitigate , prevent, or limit the establishment of airport hazards and

expenses incident to the carrying out of the provisions of this chapter;

(15) "General aviation airport" means any public-use airport that:

(a) Does not have scheduled passenger service; or

(b) Is not inspected and certified by the Federal Aviation Administration for

commercial or scheduled air service in accordance with 14 C.F.R. pt. 139;

(16) "Navigable air space" means air space above the minimum altitudes of flight

prescribed by the regulation s of the Federal Aviation Administration or cabinet

consistent therewith, and includes the air space necessary for normal landing or take

off of aircraft;

(17) "Operate," as pertains to an unmanned aircraft, means the actions taken by an

operator of an unmanned aircraft. "Operate" refers only to the actions of an operator

on the ground and is not intended to regulate an unmanned aircraft flying in

navigable airspace;

(18) "Operation of aircraft" or "operate aircraft" means the use, navigation, or piloting of

aircraft in the air space over this state, or upon any airport within this state. Any

person who causes or authorizes the operation of aircraft, whether with or without

the right of legal control as owner, lessee, or otherwise of the aircraft, shall be

deemed to be engaged in the operation of aircraft within the meaning of the statutes

of this state;

(19) "Operator" means a person operating or flying an unmanned aircraft;

(20) "Overhead line" means any cable, pipeline, wire, or similar substance of any kind or

description;

(21) "Permit" means a permit issued by the cabinet;

(22) "Public aircraft" means an aircraft used exclusively in the service of any

government or of any political subdivision thereof, including the government of the

state, territory, or possession of the United States, or the District of Columbia, but

not including any government -owned aircraft engaged in carrying persons or

property for commercial purposes;

(23) "Public airport" means any airport which is used or to be used for public pu rposes

under the control of a public agency, the landing area of which is publicly owned;

(24) "Public use airport" means any airport in the state airport plan open for use by the

general public, not including a private airport used primarily for the benef it of the

owner;

(25) "State airport plan" means the plan of the cabinet for the development of public and

certain private airports for the benefit of the people of this state;

(26) "State airway" means a route in the navigable air space over the lands or waters of

this state, designated by the cabinet as a route suitable for air navigation;

(27) "Structure" means any object constructed or installed by man, including but not

limited to buildings, towers, smokestacks, and overhead transmission lines;

(28) "Tree" includes objects of natural growth;

(29) "Unmanned aircraft" means an aircraft operated without the possibility of direct

human intervention from within or on the aircraft; and

(30) "Unmanned aircraft facility map" means a map that may be developed by a

commercial airport to display the airport facility's airspace overlaid with latitude

and longitude rectangular gridlines, or any other commercially available system,

that reflects the areas where it is unsafe to operate an unmanned aircraft without

authorization by the commercial airport operator on property owned by a

commercial airport and in specific areas consistent with obstructions to navigation

under 14 C.F.R. pt. 77.

Collected 2026-09-05T20:51:33Z. Source file · JSON

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