Federal Aviation Regulation Ninety-One Point One Hundred Seven, the Seat Belt and Shoulder Harness Rule, and the Thirty Seconds of Buckling In That Nobody Briefs Until It's Too Late

Federal Aviation Regulation 91.107 governs the use of safety belts and shoulder harnesses in general aviation. In plain terms, the pilot in command must brief every person on board on how to use their belt and harness, notify them to fasten up before takeoff and before landing, and ensure the belt is properly secured during movement on the surface, takeoff, and landing. It is barely a paragraph long, yet it holds some of the most misunderstood responsibilities you carry as PIC.

What does FAR 91.107 actually require?

The regulation breaks down into three distinct pieces, and understanding who owns each one is exactly what an examiner is checking for.

First, the briefing. Before takeoff, the pilot in command must ensure each person on board has been briefed on how to fasten and unfasten their safety belt and, if installed, their shoulder harness.

Second, the notification. Before takeoff and before landing, the pilot in command must ensure each person on board has been notified to fasten their safety belt and shoulder harness. The key word is notified - your job is to tell them.

Third, the compliance. During takeoff and landing, each person on board must actually be wearing that belt, properly secured. Not draped over the shoulder. Not loose. Secured.

Who is responsible - the pilot or the passenger?

This is where the responsibility splits, and it matters. The pilot in command owns the briefing and the notification. You are responsible for telling people to buckle up.

But the regulation places the duty of keeping the belt fastened during taxi, takeoff, and landing on each individual person, as long as they are old enough and physically able to do so. A capable adult carries that duty themselves.

So the model is simple: you notify, they comply. There is an exception for the very young and for those physically unable to fasten their own belt, with specific rules for small children.

Does the seat belt rule apply during taxi?

Yes - and this surprises more pilots than any other part of the rule. Safety belts must be worn during movement on the surface, during takeoff, and during landing. The moment the airplane starts to roll on the taxiway, every belt that can be fastened needs to be.

It is tempting to treat the seat belt as a takeoff item - doors closed, belts on, ready to go. The regulation is broader than that. Taxi counts, and taxi is exactly where a lot of small accidents happen.

A brake stab, a jet blast, another aircraft’s prop wash, or a tug that stops short can throw an unbelted passenger forward. You are not going fast, but a sudden stop with someone reaching for a dropped phone can turn into a bloody nose or a forehead against the windshield.

Make it a habit: belts on before you release the brakes. After landing, keep them on until you are clear of the runway and stopped, because taxiing to the ramp is still movement on the surface.

When is the shoulder harness required for takeoff and landing?

The rule says shoulder harness, if installed. If your seat has one, it must be used for takeoff and landing - unless the pilot in command determines that it would interfere with the ability to reach a required control or perform required duties.

Read that exception closely, because it is narrow. The only valid reason to skip the harness is that it physically stops you from doing something you need to do to fly the airplane. It is not “I find it uncomfortable.” It is not “it wrinkles my shirt.” It is a functional exception for reaching a control.

In a typical single-engine trainer, there is usually no control you cannot reach with the harness on. So it stays on.

Why does the shoulder harness matter so much?

Drawing on decades of accident research from the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA, the difference in an accident between a lap belt alone and a lap belt plus shoulder harness is enormous.

The lap belt keeps you in the seat. The shoulder harness keeps your head and face from pivoting forward into the panel and the yoke. Studies of general aviation crashes have found that shoulder harness use dramatically reduces serious injuries and fatalities in otherwise survivable accidents.

That last phrase is the point. Many of these accidents are survivable - the airframe does its job and the cabin stays largely intact. People are still badly hurt because the only thing between their face and the panel was thirty seconds they did not spend clicking a harness into place. The rule is not bureaucracy; it is the accumulated lesson of thousands of crashes.

How should children be restrained on board?

Under Part 91, a child may be held by an adult in some operations - but that is not the smart choice. The FAA strongly recommends that every child, no matter how small, ride in an approved child restraint system, in their own seat, with their own belt.

The physics are unforgiving. As the FAA puts it, your arms are not strong enough to hold a child in turbulence or a sudden stop. A few Gs of deceleration and you cannot hold on, no matter how much you love that child.

The answer is an approved restraint - the kind labeled “certified for use in aircraft.” If you are flying your family: brief it, seat it, belt it. Every person, every seat, every time.

How do I give a proper passenger briefing?

Picture a fresh private pilot on a first trip with passengers. Focused on the radio call, they never brief the belts and simply assume everyone buckled. On the takeoff roll at fifty knots, the front-seat passenger is fumbling with a twisted belt - head down, distracted - and the pilot’s attention is pulled away during the single most critical phase of flight. All because a thirty-second briefing at the ramp got skipped.

Here is how to handle it. Before you ever start to move, turn around and deliver the passenger briefing using the FAA’s SAFETY memory aid:

• S - Seat belts and shoulder harnesses: how they work, and that they stay on for taxi, takeoff, and landing.
• A - Air vents, environment, and airsickness bag.
• F - Fire extinguisher: where it is located.
• E - Exits: how they open and where to go.
• T - Traffic and talking: sterile cockpit, stay quiet during critical phases.
• Y - Your questions: answer them now.

For today’s topic, that first letter is the whole ballgame. Show them the latch. Show them how to release it - a panicked passenger who cannot find the release is a passenger who stays in a burning airplane. Then have them buckle it in front of you and watch it click. Thirty seconds, and you have satisfied the briefing requirement of 91.107 completely.

When do I have to notify passengers a second time?

The regulation requires notification before takeoff and before landing. On a short flight, one briefing covers both. But on a longer cross-country, passengers loosen their belts to stretch.

Before you start down and set up for the approach, you owe them a second notification. A simple “belts and harnesses back on, we’re getting ready to land” meets the regulation and keeps them safe in one sentence.

Key Takeaways

• Belts and harnesses go on before the airplane moves and stay on until it stops. Taxi is not optional - it is “movement on the surface” under FAR 91.107.
• The pilot in command owns the briefing and the notification; each capable passenger owns keeping the belt fastened.
• The shoulder harness stays on for takeoff and landing unless it physically prevents you from reaching a required control - the only valid exception.
• Children get their own seat and an approved child restraint certified for use in aircraft; your arms are not a restraint system.
• Notify again before every descent so belts are back on before the approach.