{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-183.011","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 183.011","heading":"Definitions of aviation terms for chapter.","body":"As used in this chapter:\n(1) \"Aeronautics\" means the science and art of flight and includes but is not limited to\ntransportation by aircraft; the operation, construction, repair, or maintenance of\naircraft, aircraft power plants, and accessories, including the repair, packing, and\nmaintenance of parachutes; the design, establishment, construction, extension,\noperation, improvement, repair, or maintenance of airports or other air navigation\nfacilities; and instruction in flying or ground subjects pertaining thereto;\n(2) \"Aircraft\" means  any contrivance now known, or hereafter invented, used or\ndesigned for navigation of or flight in the air;\n(3) \"Air navigation\" means the operation or navigation of aircraft in the air space over\nthis state, or upon any airport within this state;\n(4) \"Airport\" means any area, of land or water, which is designed for the landing and\ntake-off of aircraft, whether or not facilities are provided for the shelter, servicing,\nor repair of aircraft, or for receiving or discharging passengers or cargo, and all\nappurtenant areas used or suitable for airport building or other airport facilities, and\nall appurtenant rights-of-way, whether theretofore or hereinafter established;\n(5) \"Airport board,\" \"air board,\" or \"board\" means a board established as provided in\nthis chapter and any airport board or air board created pursuant to the provisions of\nKRS Chapter 183 as it existed prior to the enactment of 1960 Ky. Acts ch. 179 shall\nbe deemed to have been established pursuant to this chapter with all of the powers,\nfunctions, and duties as herein prescribed;\n(6) \"Airport facilities\" includes land, buildings, equipment, runways, and other\nimprovements and appurtenances necessary for the establishment and maintenance\nof airports;\n(7) \"Airport hazard\" means any structure, object , or natural growth, or use of land,\nwhich obstructs the air space required for the flight of aircraft in landing or taking\noff at any airport or is otherwise hazardous to such landing or taking off;\n(8) \"Certificate\" means a certificate issued by the cabinet;\n(9) \"Civil aircraft\" means any aircraft other than a public aircraft;\n(10) \"Charter operator\" means all persons who transport or seek to transport persons or\nproperty in intrastate commerce for hire on unscheduled service and not between\nfixed points;\n(11) \"Commercial airport\" means an airport certified by the Federal Aviation\nAdministration in accordance with 14 C.F.R. pt. 139;\n(12) \"Common carrier\" shall include all carriers for hire or compensation by air who\noperate, or seek to operate, over fixed routes or between fixed termini within the\nCommonwealth of Kentucky;\n(13) \"Commuter air carrier\" means a common carrier of persons or property in intrastate\ncommerce for hire or compensation by air, operating under 14 C.F.R. pt. 135 or\nother appropriate parts or regulations and who operates or seeks to operate on\nregular schedules wit h multi-engine aircraft between two (2) or more fixed airport\ntermini or over fixed routes only within the Commonwealth of Kentucky and\npublishes flight schedules which specify the times, days of week, and places\nbetween which such flights are performed;\n(14) \"Development\" and \"airport development\" mean:\n(a) Any work involved in planning, designing, constructing, improving, or\nrepairing a public airport or portion thereof, including the construction,\nalteration, and repair of airport buildings and the remov al, lowering,\nrelocation, and marking and lighting of airport hazards; and\n(b) Any acquisition of land, or any interest therein, or of any easement through or\nother interest in air space which is necessary to permit any required work or to\nremove, mitigate , prevent, or limit the establishment of airport hazards and\nexpenses incident to the carrying out of the provisions of this chapter;\n(15) \"General aviation airport\" means any public-use airport that:\n(a) Does not have scheduled passenger service; or\n(b) Is not inspected and certified by the Federal Aviation Administration for\ncommercial or scheduled air service in accordance with 14 C.F.R. pt. 139;\n(16) \"Navigable air space\" means air space above the minimum altitudes of flight\nprescribed by the regulation s of the Federal Aviation Administration or cabinet\nconsistent therewith, and includes the air space necessary for normal landing or take\noff of aircraft;\n(17) \"Operate,\" as pertains to an unmanned aircraft, means the actions taken by an\noperator of an unmanned aircraft. \"Operate\" refers only to the actions of an operator\non the ground and is not intended to regulate an unmanned aircraft flying in\nnavigable airspace;\n(18) \"Operation of aircraft\" or \"operate aircraft\" means the use, navigation, or piloting of\naircraft in the air space over this state, or upon any airport within this state. Any\nperson who causes or authorizes the operation of aircraft, whether with or without\nthe right of legal control as owner, lessee, or otherwise of the aircraft, shall be\ndeemed to be engaged in the operation of aircraft within the meaning of the statutes\nof this state;\n(19) \"Operator\" means a person operating or flying an unmanned aircraft;\n(20) \"Overhead line\" means any cable, pipeline, wire, or similar substance of any kind or\ndescription;\n(21) \"Permit\" means a permit issued by the cabinet;\n(22) \"Public aircraft\" means an aircraft used exclusively in the service of any\ngovernment or of any political subdivision thereof, including the government of the\nstate, territory, or possession of the United States, or the District of Columbia, but\nnot including any government -owned aircraft engaged in carrying persons or\nproperty for commercial purposes;\n(23) \"Public airport\" means any airport which is used or to be used for public pu rposes\nunder the control of a public agency, the landing area of which is publicly owned;\n(24) \"Public use airport\" means any airport in the state airport plan open for use by the\ngeneral public, not including a private airport used primarily for the benef it of the\nowner;\n(25) \"State airport plan\" means the plan of the cabinet for the development of public and\ncertain private airports for the benefit of the people of this state;\n(26) \"State airway\" means a route in the navigable air space over the lands or waters of\nthis state, designated by the cabinet as a route suitable for air navigation;\n(27) \"Structure\" means any object constructed or installed by man, including but not\nlimited to buildings, towers, smokestacks, and overhead transmission lines;\n(28) \"Tree\" includes objects of natural growth;\n(29) \"Unmanned aircraft\" means an aircraft operated without the possibility of direct\nhuman intervention from within or on the aircraft; and\n(30) \"Unmanned aircraft facility map\" means a map that may be developed by  a\ncommercial airport to display the airport facility's airspace overlaid with latitude\nand longitude rectangular gridlines, or any other commercially available system,\nthat reflects the areas where it is unsafe to operate an unmanned aircraft without\nauthorization by the commercial airport operator on property owned by a\ncommercial airport and in specific areas consistent with obstructions to navigation\nunder 14 C.F.R. pt. 77.","path":["KRS Chapter 183"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56098","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:33Z","sha256":"c9a3814c86c46fda1ddce21d0d0608b09c8ec53c109aaa5b654499be74c2ce24","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-183.010","next":"us-ky/krs-183.012"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}