"Gary Drescher" wrote in message
news:fMI_b.113144$jk2.502249@attbi_s53...
Can a commercial pilot be hired to rent a plane and fly a journalist on a
local flight for aerial photography, without meeting any operator
requirements? Or does that count as a sightseeing flight, invoking the
part
135 drug-testing rules?



Aerial photography is one of the specified exceptions to the charter rules,
as is flight instruction and such agricultural work as fish spotting or
pipeline patrol where there might be a 'passenger' on board. In each case
the 'passenger' is considered a required crew member.