This manual contains the fundamentals required in order to fly in the United States National Airspace System. It also contains items of interest to pilots concerning health and medical facts, factors affecting flight safety, a pilot/controller glossary of terms used in the ATC System, and information on safety, accident, and hazard reporting. The main body of the AIM contains ten chapters, as follows:
Air Navigation
Aeronautical Lighting and Other Airport Visual Aids
Airspace
Air Traffic Control
Air Traffic Procedures
Emergency Procedures
Safety of Flight
Medical Facts for Pilots
Aeronautical Charts and Related Publications
Helicopter Operations
The AIM is not regulatory in nature, although parts of it re-state and amplify Federal Aviation Regulations. However, failure to follow procedures set out in the AIM could be used in enforcement action, as such failures could substantiate a charge of a careless or reckless operation (ยง 91.13).
The AIM's text and images are produced by the FAA, and are available in electronic form. Several commercial enterprises sell typeset books containing the AIM, usually in combination with those chapters of the Federal regulations that are particularly important to pilots. The books are usually called "FAR/AIM".
