Choosing An Alternate

Most IFR operations dont require an alternate airport. Thats because the advertised weather often is better than required to select one and list it in a flight plan. That doesnt mean we shouldnt at least have something in mind as an alternative place to land if, say, some nummy lands gear-up at your destination or, as we saw in December 2017, an entire major airport finds itself without power.

Tuesday, January 16, 2018 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

IFR flight plans require an alternate airport if the destination lacks an instrument approach procedure or if its forecast weather (one hour before/after ETA) is below 2000 ft ceiling and 3 statute miles visibility.
A chosen alternate must meet specific weather minimums (standard 600/2 for precision, 800/2 for non-precision, or airport-specific published minimums) at the estimated time of arrival.
While GPS approaches can be executed at an alternate, a flight plan cannot *plan* for a GPS approach at both the destination and the alternate, requiring a non-GPS option for at least one.
Filing a legal alternate fulfills regulatory requirements but does not obligate the pilot to land there, allowing flexibility to choose other suitable airports if conditions change.

See a mistake? Contact us.

Most IFR operations don’t require an alternate airport. That’s because the advertised weather often is better than required to select one and list it in a flight plan. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t at least have something in mind as an alternative place to land if, say, some nummy lands gear-up at your destination or, as we saw in December 2017, an entire major airport finds itself without power.

For those occasions when an alternate is required, there are some rules that apply. And some of those rules are directed at the equipment we carry or the planned destination. Although this isn’t that complicated, there are a couple of ways to screw it up. Deciding whether we need an alternate is where we start.