Aircraft land and taxi at Ronald Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C., on Feb. 16, 2022. STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
US Barring Russian Citizens From Piloting Planes Over United States
The move is part of Biden’s ban on Russian-flagged airlines moving through U.S. airspace.
Updated: 7:39 p.m. ET.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the scope and publication date of the NOTAM.
The U.S. has barred all Russian citizens who own or lease aircraft in the United States from piloting those planes in the country's airspace.
A Notice to Air Missions released by the Federal Aviation Administration declares that “all aircraft, regardless of the state of registry, owned, chartered, leased, operated or controlled by, for, or for the benefit of, a person who is a citizen of the Russian Federation are prohibited from operating to, from, within or through U.S. territorial airspace, except for aircraft engaged in humanitarian or SAR [search and rescue] operation specifically authorized by the FAA.”
President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that all U.S. airspace was closed to Russian aircraft. The FAA’s Wednesday announcement, which banned Russian airlines from operating in U.S. airspace as worded, also bars any Russian citizen from even operating an aircraft in U.S. airspace.
Repeated queries to the FAA on the direct impact to Russian citizens piloting aircraft were not immediately answered.
“The FAA-issued NOTAM does exactly what the president announced,” the FAA said in a statement to Defense One Thursday.
The notice grants exceptions to any Russian flight given diplomatic clearance by the State Department or an aircraft experiencing an in-flight emergency.
Aircraft that do not comply “may be intercepted, and their pilots and other crewmembers detained and interviewed by law enforcement or security personnel.”