18 U.S.C. § 31 — Definitions

Page 20 TITLE 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE § 31 Sec. 39B. Unsafe operation of unmanned aircraft. 40. Commercial motor vehicles required to stop for inspections. 40A. Operation of unauthorized unmanned aircraft over wildfires. Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2018—Pub. L. 115–254, div. B, title III, §§ 382(b), 384(b), Oct. 5, 2018, 132 Stat. 3320, 3323, added items 39B and 40A. 2012—Pub. L. 112–95, title III, § 311(b), Feb. 14, 2012, 126 Stat. 66, transferred item 39 to appear after item 38 and added item 39A. 2008—Pub. L. 110–244, title III, § 301(j), June 6, 2008, 122 Stat. 1616, redesignated item 39 ‘‘Commercial motor ve- hicles required to stop for inspections’’ as item 40. 2005—Pub. L. 109–59, title II, § 2018(b), title IV, § 4143(c)(1), Aug. 10, 2005, 119 Stat. 1543, 1748, added item 39 ‘‘Commercial motor vehicles required to stop for in- spections’’ and item 39 ‘‘Traffic signal preemption transmitters’’. 2000—Pub. L. 106–181, title V, § 506(c)(2)(A), Apr. 5, 2000, 114 Stat. 139, added item 38. 1994—Pub. L. 103–322, title VI, §§ 60008(c), 60021(b), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 1972, 1980, added items 36 and 37. § 31. Definitions (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this chapter, the fol- lowing definitions apply: (1) AIRCRAFT.—The term ‘‘aircraft’’ means a civil, military, or public contrivance invented, used, or designed to navigate, fly, or travel in the air. (2) AVIATION QUALITY.—The term ‘‘aviation quality’’, with respect to a part of an aircraft or space vehicle, means the quality of having been manufactured, constructed, produced, maintained, repaired, overhauled, rebuilt, re- conditioned, or restored in conformity with applicable standards specified by law (includ- ing applicable regulations). (3) DESTRUCTIVE SUBSTANCE.—The term ‘‘de- structive substance’’ means an explosive sub- stance, flammable material, infernal machine, or other chemical, mechanical, or radioactive device or matter of a combustible, contamina- tive, corrosive, or explosive nature. (4) IN FLIGHT.—The term ‘‘in flight’’ means— (A) any time from the moment at which all the external doors of an aircraft are closed following embarkation until the mo- ment when any such door is opened for dis- embarkation; and (B) in the case of a forced landing, until competent authorities take over the respon- sibility for the aircraft and the persons and property on board. (5) IN SERVICE.—The term ‘‘in service’’ means— (A) any time from the beginning of pre- flight preparation of an aircraft by ground personnel or by the crew for a specific flight until 24 hours after any landing; and (B) in any event includes the entire period during which the aircraft is in flight. (6) MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term ‘‘motor vehi- cle’’ means every description of carriage or other contrivance propelled or drawn by me- chanical power and used for commercial pur- poses on the highways in the transportation of passengers, passengers and property, or prop- erty or cargo. (7) PART.—The term ‘‘part’’ means a frame, assembly, component, appliance, engine, pro- peller, material, part, spare part, piece, sec- tion, or related integral or auxiliary equip- ment. (8) SPACE VEHICLE.—The term ‘‘space vehi- cle’’ means a man-made device, either manned or unmanned, designed for operation beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. (9) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or posses- sion of the United States. (10) USED FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES.—The term ‘‘used for commercial purposes’’ means the carriage of persons or property for any fare, fee, rate, charge or other consideration, or directly or indirectly in connection with any business, or other undertaking intended for profit. (b) TERMS DEFINED IN OTHER LAW.—In this chapter, the terms ‘‘aircraft engine’’, ‘‘air navi- gation facility’’, ‘‘appliance’’, ‘‘civil aircraft’’, ‘‘foreign air commerce’’, ‘‘interstate air com- merce’’, ‘‘landing area’’, ‘‘overseas air com- merce’’, ‘‘propeller’’, ‘‘spare part’’, and ‘‘special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States’’ have the meanings given those terms in sections 40102(a) and 46501 of title 49. (Added July 14, 1956, ch. 595, § 1, 70 Stat. 538; amended Pub. L. 98–473, title II, §§ 1010, 2013(a), Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2141, 2187; Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, § 7015, Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4395; Pub. L. 103–272, § 5(e)(1), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 1373; Pub. L. 106–181, title V, § 506(b), Apr. 5, 2000, 114 Stat. 136.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2000—Pub. L. 106–181 added subsecs. (a) and (b) and struck out former text which read as follows: ‘‘When used in this chapter the term— ‘‘ ‘Aircraft engine’, ‘air navigation facility’, ‘appli- ance’, ‘civil aircraft’, ‘foreign air commerce’, ‘inter- state air commerce’, ‘landing area’, ‘overseas air com- merce’, ‘propeller’, ‘spare part’ and ‘special aircraft ju- risdiction of the United States’ shall have the meaning ascribed to those terms in sections 40102(a) and 46501 of title 49. ‘‘ ‘Motor vehicle’ means every description of carriage or other contrivance propelled or drawn by mechanical power and used for commercial purposes on the high- ways in the transportation of passengers, passengers and property, or property or cargo; ‘‘ ‘Destructive substance’ means any explosive sub- stance, flammable material, infernal machine, or other chemical, mechanical, or radioactive device or matter of a combustible, contaminative, corrosive, or explo- sive nature; ‘‘ ‘Used for commercial purposes’ means the carriage of persons or property for any fare, fee, rate, charge or other consideration, or directly or indirectly in connec- tion with any business, or other undertaking intended for profit; ‘‘ ‘In flight’ means any time from the moment all the external doors of an aircraft are closed following em- barkation until the moment when any such door is opened for disembarkation. In the case of a forced land- ing the flight shall be deemed to continue until com- petent authorities take over the responsibility for the aircraft and the persons and property on board; and Page 21 TITLE 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE § 32 ‘‘ ‘In service’ means any time from the beginning of preflight preparation of the aircraft by ground per- sonnel or by the crew for a specific flight until twenty- four hours after any landing; the period of service shall, in any event, extend for the entire period during which the aircraft is in flight.’’ 1994—Pub. L. 103–272 substituted ‘‘sections 40102(a) and 46501 of title 49’’ for ‘‘the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, as amended’’ in par. beginning with definition of ‘‘Aircraft engine’’. 1988—Pub. L. 100–690 substituted ‘‘door is opened’’ for ‘‘door in opened’’ in definition of ‘‘in flight’’. 1984—Pub. L. 98–473, § 2013(a)(1), in first par. struck out ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘spare part’’, inserted ‘‘and ‘special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States’ ’’, and sub- stituted ‘‘Federal Aviation Act of 1958’’ for ‘‘Civil Aero- nautics Act of 1938’’. Pub. L. 98–473, § 1010, substituted ‘‘passengers and property, or property or cargo’’ for ‘‘or passengers and property’’ in definition of motor vehicle. Pub. L. 98–473, § 2013(a)(2)–(4), inserted definitions of ‘‘in flight’’ and ‘‘in service’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2000 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 106–181 applicable only to fis- cal years beginning after Sept. 30, 1999, see section 3 of Pub. L. 106–181, set out as a note under section 106 of Title 49, Transportation. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1984 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 98–473, title II, § 2015, Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2190, provided that: ‘‘This part [part B (§§ 2011–2015) of chapter XX of title II of Pub. L. 98–473, see Short Title of 1984 Amendment note below] shall become effective on the date of the enactment of this joint resolution [Oct. 12, 1984].’’ SHORT TITLE OF 2000 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 106–181, title V, § 506(a), Apr. 5, 2000, 114 Stat. 136, provided that: ‘‘This section [enacting section 38 of this title and amending this section and section 2516 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Aircraft Safety Act of 2000’.’’ SHORT TITLE OF 1984 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 98–473, title II, § 2011, Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2187, provided that: ‘‘This part [part B (§§ 2011–2015) of chapter XX of title II of Pub. L. 98–473, amending this section, section 32 of this title, and sections 1301, 1471, and 1472 of former Title 49, Transportation, and enact- ing provisions set out as notes under this section] may be cited as the ‘Aircraft Sabotage Act’.’’ STATEMENT OF FINDINGS AND PURPOSE FOR 1984 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 98–473, title II, § 2012, Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2187, provided that: ‘‘The Congress hereby finds that— ‘‘(1) the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation (ratified by the United States on November 1, 1972) requires each contracting State to establish its jurisdiction over certain offenses affecting the safety of civil aviation; ‘‘(2) such offenses place innocent lives in jeopardy, endanger national security, affect domestic tran- quility, gravely affect interstate and foreign com- merce, and are offenses against the law of nations; and ‘‘(3) the purpose of this subtitle [probably means part B (§§ 2011–2015) of chapter XX of title II of Pub. L. 98–473, see Short Title of 1984 Amendment note above] is to implement fully the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation and to expand the protection accorded to aircraft and related facilities.’’ § 32. Destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities (a) Whoever willfully— (1) sets fire to, damages, destroys, disables, or wrecks any aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States or any civil aircraft used, operated, or employed in inter- state, overseas, or foreign air commerce; (2) places or causes to be placed a destruc- tive device or substance in, upon, or in prox- imity to, or otherwise makes or causes to be made unworkable or unusable or hazardous to work or use, any such aircraft, or any part or other materials used or intended to be used in connection with the operation of such aircraft, if such placing or causing to be placed or such making or causing to be made is likely to en- danger the safety of any such aircraft; (3) sets fire to, damages, destroys, or dis- ables any air navigation facility, or interferes by force or violence with the operation of such facility, if such fire, damaging, destroying, disabling, or interfering is likely to endanger the safety of any such aircraft in flight; (4) with the intent to damage, destroy, or disable any such aircraft, sets fire to, dam- ages, destroys, or disables or places a destruc- tive device or substance in, upon, or in prox- imity to, any appliance or structure, ramp, landing area, property, machine, or apparatus, or any facility or other material used, or in- tended to be used, in connection with the oper- ation, maintenance, loading, unloading or storage of any such aircraft or any cargo car- ried or intended to be carried on any such air- craft; (5) interferes with or disables, with intent to endanger the safety of any person or with a reckless disregard for the safety of human life, anyone engaged in the authorized operation of such aircraft or any air navigation facility aiding in the navigation of any such aircraft; (6) performs an act of violence against or in- capacitates any individual on any such air- craft, if such act of violence or incapacitation is likely to endanger the safety of such air- craft; (7) communicates information, knowing the information to be false and under cir- cumstances in which such information may reasonably be believed, thereby endangering the safety of any such aircraft in flight; or (8) attempts or conspires to do anything pro- hibited under paragraphs (1) through (7) of this subsection; shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years or both. (b) Whoever willfully— (1) performs an act of violence against any individual on board any civil aircraft reg- istered in a country other than the United States while such aircraft is in flight, if such act is likely to endanger the safety of that air- craft; (2) destroys a civil aircraft registered in a country other than the United States while such aircraft is in service or causes damage to such an aircraft which renders that aircraft incapable of flight or which is likely to endan- ger that aircraft’s safety in flight; (3) places or causes to be placed on a civil aircraft registered in a country other than the United States while such aircraft is in service, a device or substance which is likely to de-