Definition
A citation to the Federal Register, volume 81, page 96689. The Federal Register is the official daily publication of the United States government for rules, proposed rules, and notices from federal agencies, including the FAA. This particular citation refers to the FAA's final rule revising the airman certification standards and pilot training requirements, published in late 2016.
Plain English
It is a reference to a specific page in the U.S. government's official record of new rules. When the FAA changes a regulation, the change is printed in the Federal Register first, and pilots or instructors can look up that exact page to see the original wording.
Context Anchor
Seen in FAA handbooks, rule references, and footnotes when the text identifies the official source of a regulation or change.
Derivation
FR' stands for Federal Register. The number '81' is the volume (one volume per year, with volume 1 starting in 1936). '96689' is the page number within that year's continuous page count. So '81 FR 96689' means 'Federal Register, Volume 81, Page 96689' -- which corresponds to a publication date in 2016.
Why Pilots Care
Pilots rarely need to read the Federal Register directly, but knowing what these citations mean helps when researching the origin of a rule, understanding why a procedure changed, or following references in FAA training material back to their source.
Analogy
It works like a book citation: volume 81 tells you which book to open, and page 96689 tells you where to look.
Intuition Check
Do not read FR here as a flight rule or cockpit instruction. In this citation, FR means Federal Register, and the numbers identify the volume and page.
Example Sentence 1
The handbook footnote cited 81 FR 96689, pointing the reader to the original 2016 Federal Register entry that established the change.
Example Sentence 2
Pilots can locate the complete rule text by consulting 81 FR 96689.