Definition
A special flight permit is an authorization issued by the FAA that allows an aircraft which does not currently meet applicable airworthiness requirements, but is capable of safe flight, to be flown for a specific purpose to a specific destination. Common uses include flying the aircraft to a base where repairs, alterations, or maintenance can be performed, delivering or exporting the aircraft, evacuating it from an area of impending danger, or conducting production flight tests. The permit typically prescribes operating limitations such as route, altitude, weather minimums, and crew restrictions.
Plain English
A short-term FAA permission slip that lets you fly an aircraft that is not legally airworthy at the moment, but is still safe to fly, so you can move it somewhere it can be fixed, delivered, or tested.
Context Anchor
Seen in airworthiness discussions when an aircraft needs to be moved for repair, inspection, delivery, testing, or another specific approved purpose.
Derivation
Often called a 'ferry permit' in everyday hangar talk, because the most common use is ferrying (flying) the aircraft to a maintenance facility. 'Special' here means 'for a specific, limited purpose' — not 'unusual' or 'privileged.'
Why Pilots Care
It lets an aircraft be moved safely for maintenance or other approved reasons instead of remaining grounded.
Intuition Check
Do not assume a special flight permit means the aircraft is fully airworthy for normal flying. It means the FAA has allowed a specific flight because the aircraft can safely make that flight under specific conditions.
Example Sentence 1
After the annual inspection expired before the owner could schedule maintenance, he applied for a special flight permit to ferry the aircraft to the repair station.
Example Sentence 2
After the incident, the operator applied for special flight permits to relocate several aircraft for inspection.