What is All information?

Its particularly a pilots nightmare: Youre sitting across the table from an FAA investigator trying to explain how your actions seemed reasonable at the time. Somehow you didnt know about the thunderstorm/icing/closed runway/TFR that the investigator has neatly printed out and was presumably public knowledge at least five minutes before you took off.The problem is really FAR 91.103. It requires that each pilot in command shall before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight. Thats a tall order. The next two subsections specify the minimum information that must be obtained. For every flight, this includes takeoff and landing distances. For IFR flights and those VFR flights not in the vicinity of an airport, the reg adds weather reports and forecasts, fuel requirements, alternates and known traffic delays.

Editorial Staff

Wednesday, April 01, 2015 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

FAR 91.103 broadly mandates that pilots obtain "all available information" before every flight, acting as a crucial safeguard for both flight safety and potential defense against FAA investigations.
Effective compliance involves utilizing official, current, and timely sources for pre-flight briefings, such as qualified internet providers for weather, up-to-date online airport data/NOTAMs, and re-evaluating conditions for subsequent flight legs.
While FAR 91.103 focuses on pre-flight, continuous in-flight awareness of conditions like weather and TFRs is also essential to avoid "careless and reckless" violations, with thorough preparation serving as the best defense in an incident.

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It’s particularly a pilot’s nightmare: You’re sitting across the table from an FAA investigator trying to explain how your actions seemed reasonable at the time. Somehow you didn’t know about the thunderstorm/icing/closed runway/TFR that the investigator has neatly printed out and was presumably public knowledge at least five minutes before you took off.

The problem is really FAR 91.103. It requires that “each pilot in command shall before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight.” That’s a tall order. The next two subsections specify the minimum information that must be obtained. For every flight, this includes takeoff and landing distances. For IFR flights and those VFR flights not in the vicinity of an airport, the reg adds weather reports and forecasts, fuel requirements, alternates and known traffic delays.