Self-Brief the Weather

But a standard brief alone does not satisfy 91.103. If IFR or flying outside the airport vicinity, we are expected to also know fuel requirements, alternates if the planned flight cannot be completed, and any traffic delays advised by ATC. We must know the runway lengths, including takeoff and landing distance data if an Airplane Flight Manual exists. Else, we are told to make do using other reliable information appropriate to the aircraft including aircraft performance.

Fred Simonds

Sunday, July 28, 2019 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The FAA strongly emphasizes thorough pilot self-briefing, citing the vast majority of pilots who now self-brief and historical accident data indicating inadequate preflight information gathering.
A "legal" briefing, as per Part 91.103, requires pilots to gather "all available information" for a flight, which encompasses more than just a standard weather briefing to include fuel, alternate planning, and aircraft performance data.
Effective self-briefing demands a structured approach, starting with a "big picture" overview (lows, fronts, upper air) and progressing to detailed weather products and forecasts, utilizing comprehensive online resources like 1800WxBrief.com, and always saving documentation of the briefing.

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Until 2004, Flight Service conducted most preflight briefings. Then self-briefing arrived. By 2017, 96 percent of all pilots self-briefed and 83 percent of flight plans were filed online.

But many of us don’t know how to get a thorough self-briefing. Between 2010 and 2013, the NTSB could find not weather briefing records in 32 percent of 5437 accidents. Consequently, the FAA is strongly stressing self-briefing, so it’s time we explored how we might do that.