Transponder – Needed or Not When Crossing the Border?

This was an extract from an email I received from the author and I felt it was so interesting that I thought I should share it - Ed.

A couple of years ago, while updating the Flying to Canada – What You Need to Know pamphlet, I tried to find a regulatory reference for the oft-quoted transponder and communication requirement when crossing the border between Canada and the United States. I was unable to find one and reached out to FAA, TSA, and NORAD for a citation of the requirement, assuming it had to be published somewhere. Unfortunately, I was unable to obtain one.

I then reached out to AOPA, as they provide guidance to U.S. pilots planning flights between the United States and Canada, the Bahamas, and Mexico.

Based on AOPA’s research, it appears that following September 11, 2001, a series of security-related FDC NOTAMs established the transponder requirement and were renewed multiple times over the years. However, the last such NOTAM appears to have expired in 2022, and the requirement was never codified in regulation. As a result, I have been unable to identify any current regulatory requirement mandating a transponder solely for crossing the Canada-United States land border outside an ADIZ.

Of course, separate transponder requirements continue to apply when crossing a U.S. Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) (ref: 14 CFR § 99.13 Transponder-on requirements). However, no ADIZ exists along the land border between Canada and the United States.