Where’s It Say That?

There I was, a cocky preppy with an airplane, trying to get home after a week at the beach. I’d flown a borrowed Skyhawk about 3.5 hours since full tanks, leaving me about 1.5 to dry ones. It was Sunday and the weather sucked. I could get out fine with an IFR clearance, but the beach-side airport where I landed had no fuel.Remember how the IFR alternate rules work when filing a flight plan? If the destination airport TAF or area forecast, within an hour either side of your ETA, advertises less than a 2000-foot ceiling and three statute miles, you need to file an alternate airport in your flight plan. In turn, that alternate airport has to have a forecast of 600/2 for precision approaches or 800/2 for non-precision. No problem. My destination was advertising something like 1500/5. I could get there VFR, but I had to file an alternate.

Key Takeaways:

• A pilot with limited fuel faced IFR conditions and needed to file an alternate, but realized he didn't have enough fuel to comply with the standard alternate scenario (missed approach plus diversion to a second airport).
• He circumvented the issue by filing his destination airport as its own alternate, an action initially questioned by a Flight Service briefer who ultimately allowed it without citing specific regulations.
• The flight was successful due to improving weather, but the pilot acknowledged that his actions were legally ambiguous and violated the spirit of aviation safety regulations.

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