72-10-102. Definitions.

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A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

Effective 5/6/2026

As used in this chapter:

(1)"Acrobatics" means the intentional maneuvers of an aircraft not necessary to air navigation.

(a)"Advanced air mobility system" means a system that transports individuals and property using piloted and unpiloted aircraft, including electric aircraft and electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, in controlled or uncontrolled airspace.

(b)"Advanced air mobility system" includes each component of a system described in Subsection (2)(a) , including:

(i)the aircraft, including payload;

(ii)communications equipment;

(iii)navigation equipment;

(iv)controllers;

(v)support equipment;

(vi)an authoritative supplemental data service provider;

(vii)flight information exchange; and

(viii)remote and autonomous functions.

(3)"Aerial transit corridor" means an airspace volume defining a three-dimensional route segment with performance requirements to operate within or to cross where tactical air traffic control separation services are not provided.

(4)"Aeronautics" means transportation by aircraft, air instruction, the operation, repair, or maintenance of aircraft, and the design, operation, repair, or maintenance of airports, or other air navigation facilities.

(5)"Aeronautics instructor" means an individual engaged in giving or offering to give instruction in aeronautics, flying, or ground subjects, either with or without:

(a)compensation or other reward;

(b)advertising the occupation;

(c)calling the instructor's facilities an air school, or an equivalent term; or

(d)employing or using other instructors.

(6)"Aircraft" means a contrivance now known or in the future invented, used, or designed for navigation of or flight in the air.

(7)"Air instruction" means the imparting of aeronautical information by an aviation instructor or in an air school or flying club.

(a)"Airport" means an area of land or water that:

(i)is used or is made available for landing and takeoff of aircraft; and

(ii)is open or available for public use.

(b)"Airport" includes:

(i)appurtenant areas used for buildings, right of way, or other facilities used to support the airport; and

(ii)a vertiport if the vertiport is open or available for public use.

(9)"Airport authority" means a political subdivision of the state, other than a county or municipality, that is authorized by statute to operate an airport.

(10)"Airport operator" means a municipality, county, or airport authority that owns or operates a commercial airport.

(a)"Airport revenue" means all fees, charges, rents, or other payments received by or accruing to an airport operator for any of the following reasons:

(i)revenue from air carriers, tenants, lessees, purchasers of airport properties, airport permittees making use of airport property and services, and other parties;

(ii)revenue received from the activities of others or the transfer of rights to others relating to the airport, including revenue received:

(A)for the right to conduct an activity on the airport or to use or occupy airport property;

(B)for the sale, transfer, or disposition of airport real or personal property, or an interest in that property, including transfer through a condemnation proceeding;

(C)for the sale of, or the sale or lease of rights in, mineral, natural, or agricultural products or water owned by the airport operator to be taken from the airport; and

(D)for the right to conduct an activity on, or for the use or disposition of, real or personal property or an interest in real or personal property owned or controlled by the airport operator and used for an airport-related purpose but not located on the airport; or

(iii)revenue received from activities conducted by the airport operator whether on or off the airport, which is directly connected to the airport operator's ownership or operation of the airport.

(b)"Airport revenue" includes state and local taxes on aviation fuel.

(c)"Airport revenue" does not include amounts received by an airport operator as passenger facility fees in accordance with 49 U.S.C. Sec. 40117.

(12)"Air school" means a person engaged in giving, offering to give, advertising, representing, or a person holding itself out as giving, with or without compensation or other reward, instruction in aeronautics, flying, or ground subjects, or in more than one of these subjects.

(13)"Airworthiness" means conformity with requirements prescribed by the Federal Aviation Administration regarding the structure or functioning of aircraft, engine, parts, or accessories.

(14)"Authoritative supplemental data service provider" means a third party provider of unmanned aircraft system traffic management services that is approved by the department and supplies specialized data to an unmanned aircraft system service supplier or to an unmanned aircraft system operator for a variety of uses.

(15)"Civil aircraft" means an aircraft other than a public aircraft.

(16)"Commercial aircraft" means aircraft used for commercial purposes.

(17)"Commercial airport" means a landing area, landing strip, or airport that may be used for commercial operations.

(18)"Commercial flight operator" means a person who conducts commercial operations.

(19)"Commercial operations" means:

(a)the operation of an aircraft for compensation or hire or services performed incidental to the operation of an aircraft for which a fee is charged or compensation is received, including the servicing, maintaining, and repairing of aircraft, the rental or charter of aircraft, the operation of flight or ground schools, the operation of aircraft for the application or distribution of chemicals or other substances, and the operation of aircraft for hunting and fishing; or

(b)the brokering or selling of any of these services; but

(c)does not include any operations of aircraft as common carriers certificated by the federal government or the services incidental to those operations.

(20)"Correctional facility" means the same as that term is defined in Section 77-16b-102 .

(21)"Dealer" means a person who is actively engaged in the business of flying for demonstration purposes, or selling or exchanging aircraft, and who has an established place of business.

(22)"Experimental aircraft" means:

(a)an aircraft designated by the Federal Aviation Administration or the military as experimental and used solely for the purpose of experiments, or tests regarding the structure or functioning of aircraft, engines, or their accessories; and

(b)an aircraft designated by the Federal Aviation Administration as:

(i)being custom or amateur built; and

(ii)used for recreational, educational, or display purposes.

(23)"Flight" means a kind of locomotion by aircraft while in the air.

(24)"Flight information exchange" means a model or system that allows for the consistent exchange of flying data between an unmanned aircraft system traffic management system and an unmanned aircraft system operator or aircraft to facilitate the coordination of flights.

(25)"Flying club" means five or more persons who for neither profit nor reward own, lease, or use one or more aircraft for the purpose of instruction, pleasure, or both.

(26)"Glider" means an aircraft heavier than air, similar to an airplane, but without a power plant.

(27)"Mechanic" means a person who constructs, repairs, adjusts, inspects, or overhauls aircraft, engines, or accessories.

(28)"Navigable airspace" means the same as that term is defined in 49 U.S.C. Sec. 40102.

(29)"Parachute jumper" means an individual who has passed the required test for jumping with a parachute from an aircraft, and has passed an examination showing that the jumper possesses the required physical and mental qualifications for the jumping.

(30)"Parachute rigger" means any person who has passed the required test for packing, repairing, and maintaining parachutes.

(31)"Passenger aircraft" means aircraft used for transporting persons, in addition to the pilot or crew, with or without their necessary personal belongings.

(32)"Person" means an individual, corporation, limited liability company, or association of individuals.

(33)"Pilot" means a person who operates the controls of an aircraft while in-flight.

(34)"Primary glider" means a glider that has a gliding angle of less than 10 to one.

(35)"Private airport" means an airport that is not open or available for public use.

(36)"Public aircraft" means an aircraft used exclusively in the service of a government or of a political subdivision, including the government of the United States, of the District of Columbia, and of a state, territory, or insular possession of the United States, but not including a government-owned aircraft engaged in carrying persons or goods for commercial purposes.

(37)"Reckless flying" means the operation or piloting of an aircraft recklessly, or in a manner as to endanger the property, life, or body of a person, due regard being given to the prevailing weather conditions, field conditions, and to the territory being flown over.

(38)"Registration number" means the number assigned by the Federal Aviation Administration to an aircraft, whether the number includes a letter or letters.

(39)"Roadable aircraft" means an aircraft capable of taking off and landing from a suitable airfield and is also designed to be driven on a highway as a conveyance.

(40)"Secondary glider" means a glider that has a gliding angle between 10 to one and 16 to one, inclusive.

(41)"Significant private airport" means a private airport that is designated by the department as a significant private airport as described in Section 72-10-416 .

(42)"Soaring glider" means any glider that has a gliding angle of more than 16 to one.

(43)"Unmanned aircraft system service supplier" means a service supplier that:

(a)relays flight information between an unmanned aircraft system operator and a flight management system; and

(b)provides information that supports unmanned aircraft system operations and assists with strategic deconfliction by an unmanned aircraft system traffic management system.

(44)"Unmanned aircraft" means an aircraft that is:

(a)capable of sustaining flight; and

(b)operated with no possible direct human intervention from on or within the aircraft.

(45)"Unmanned aircraft system" means the entire system used to operate an unmanned aircraft, including:

(a)the unmanned aircraft, including payload;

(b)communications equipment;

(c)navigation equipment;

(d)controllers;

(e)support equipment; and

(f)autopilot functionality.

(46)"Unmanned aircraft system traffic management" means a traffic management ecosystem for uncontrolled operations, including unmanned aircraft systems, that is separate from, but complementary to, the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic management system.

(47)"Vertiport" means an area of land, or a structure, used or intended to be used for electric, hydrogen, and hybrid vertical aircraft landings and takeoffs, including associated buildings and facilities.

Amended by Chapter 118 , 2026 General Session