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I have seen some planes that were not broadcasting any signals... Maybe FBI.

• bradhe 4y ago
  Yes, some military and government aircraft are exempt from this requirement. It's otherwise illegal to disable ADS-B.
  • _moof 4y ago
    This is only sort of true. While not having ADS-B Out does limit where you can fly, it is not illegal to fly a civil aircraft without ADS-B Out equipment. The following rules are the most relevant: If your aircraft is equipped with operable ADS-B Out equipment, it is illegal not to turn it on. 14 CFR 91.225(f). If you wish to fly in Class A, B, or C airspace, within a Mode C veil, or in Class E airspace above 10,000', you must have ADS-B Out. 91.225(a) and (d). There is no rule implementing a blanket requirement for all civil aircraft to have ADS-B Out. You would be surprised how much airspace this leaves open to aircraft without ADS-B Out. You can in fact fly across the entire country, legally, without it. And in my experience ATC could not care less whether you have ADS-B Out. 91.225 is riddled with "unless authorized by ATC," and practically speaking, in thousands of hours of flying I have never seen an aircraft turned away because of a lack of ADS-B Out. I've asked some controllers about this directly and it makes no difference to them. EDIT: I should add that in Musk's case this ADS-B business is all a little bit of a red herring, because the second you get radar services, your data is public regardless of ADS-B status.