Does 14 CFR Part 5 apply to me?
Yes, if you hold a Part 135 certificate or fly 91.147 air tours. One aircraft counts, and a working SMS is due by 28 May 2027.
The sample needs no account. Starting free needs no card: 10 days free.
SquawkSMS in 30 seconds: hazard report, risk, fix, closed.
All you need to start is your company name.
Certificate number, accountable executive, safety manager, tail numbers and crew can all be added later, whenever you have them (see the setup checklist).
Would rather we set it up for you? Email hello@squawksms.com with your company name and certificate number and we'll do it. Plans from $49/mo.
- Crews file hazard reports from any phone in a minute, anonymously if they choose
- 5×5 risk assessments, corrective actions and sign-off at the right management level
- SMS training for your whole team, with records kept automatically (Part 135 certificate courses available as an add-on)
- A generated SMS manual and Declaration of Compliance package, on the Compliance plan
We fly commercial air tours over Las Vegas every day, and we have the same 28 May 2027 deadline as everyone else. SquawkSMS is how we run our own SMS: a pilot or ground crew member files a squawk from their phone in a minute, and the records an inspector will ask for build up as we work.
Who is covered
The FAA extended safety management system requirements beyond Part 121. The two categories that account for most small operators are:
- Part 135 certificate holders — commuter and on-demand operators. One aircraft counts. There is no small-operator exemption.
- 91.147 commercial air tour operators — holders of a letter of authorization for air tours. This catches operators who have never held a 135 certificate and who often do not expect to be in scope at all.
A Part 145 repair station certificate, by itself, does not bring you under Part 5. This matters more than it sounds: operators holding several certificates sometimes name the wrong one as the reason they are complying, and the certificate you cite is the one your declaration rests on.
The deadline is 28 May 2027. That is when a working SMS has to exist and a Declaration of Compliance has to be filed — not when you start thinking about it. An SMS is judged on the records it has produced, and records take time to accumulate, which is the real reason to start early rather than the paperwork itself.
Every week you start earlier is a week of records you can show. SquawkSMS starts logging hazards, risk assessments and training on day one.
Start 10 days freeWhat "having an SMS" actually means
Part 5 defines four components, and all four have to exist and be used. A manual on a shelf satisfies none of them.
Safety policy § 5.21 – 5.27
A signed policy, an accountable executive with real authority over money and people, and a reporting system your crews can use without fear of reprisal — with the limits of that protection written down honestly.
Safety risk management § 5.51 – 5.55
A process for identifying hazards, assessing the risk, deciding controls, and confirming those controls actually did something. This is the part auditors read first.
Safety assurance § 5.71 – 5.75
Monitoring that the controls keep working: internal audits, safety performance measures, and corrective actions tracked to closure and verified as effective.
Safety promotion § 5.91 – 5.93
Training so that everyone understands the hazards of their own role, and communication that tells people what came of the reports they filed. Reports that vanish stop arriving.
What the FAA will expect to see
In practice, an inspector asks for evidence rather than intentions:
- Hazard reports, and what happened to each one.
- Risk assessments with the reasoning visible, not just a score.
- Corrective actions closed out, with verification that they worked.
- Training records for the people currently employed.
- Records retained for the periods your manual states § 5.97.
An SMS that was implemented last week can show none of that. This is why the deadline behaves like an earlier deadline than it reads as.
Where SquawkSMS fits
Each item in that list is something SquawkSMS records as your people work — hazard reports and their outcomes, risk assessments with the reasoning, corrective actions through verification, training with recurrency alerts. Pick the plan that matches your operation:
Ten days free on every plan · Pay yearly and save 10% · Compare plans in full
Questions operators actually ask
- I fly one aircraft. Does Part 5 still apply?
- Yes. Part 5 applies to the certificate or the authorization, not to fleet size. What scales with your operation is how elaborate the system needs to be — the regulation expects processes proportionate to the size, scope and complexity of what you do.
- I only do air tours under 91.147. Am I in scope?
- Yes, and this is the group most often caught out. The 91.147 letter of authorization is itself a trigger for Part 5.
- Does an SMS manual by itself make me compliant?
- No. The manual describes the system; compliance is demonstrated by the records the system produces. A manual with nothing behind it is the most common failure.
- What happens if I miss 28 May 2027?
- You would be operating without a required program, which is an enforcement matter between you and your certificate-holding district office. Talk to your principal inspector early rather than late — that conversation goes better before the date than after it.
SquawkSMS is the system, the records and the paperwork.
Hazard reporting, risk assessment, audits, training records — and a generated SMS manual and Declaration of Compliance package for the deadline.
All you need to start is your company name. See what else setup asks for (all of it can wait).
This page is written for operators trying to work out where they stand. It is general information about a published regulation, not legal advice, and it is not an FAA publication — SquawkSMS is not affiliated with the FAA and files nothing on your behalf. Your principal inspector is the authority on how Part 5 applies to your certificate.