Flight Plan Codes

Years after the FAA adopted the so-called ICAO flight plan for all flights, many pilots still don’t really understand what codes to put in the boxes. We can help.

lbencini-tibo

Wednesday, May 01, 2024 at 08:00 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

Active pilots commonly use electronic flight bags (EFBs) to store flight plan information, but codes for aircraft equipment and capabilities in FAA Form 7233-4 are frequently incorrect.
Block 10 of the flight plan details communication, navigation, and surveillance equipment (e.g., SGR for GPS/VOR/ILS, EB2 for Mode S-ES ADS-B OUT/IN).
Block 18 provides further details, especially for Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) capabilities using GPS, such as RNAV-5 (B2), RNAV-2 (C2), RNAV-1 (D2), and RNP APCH (S1).
The emphasis for modern navigation, particularly PBN, is on the aircraft's *capabilities* (what the equipment can do) rather than just the *equipment installed*.

See a mistake? Contact us.

Today, it is common practice for active pilots to use an electronic flight bag (EFB), typically a tablet with an aviation app like ForeFlight or Garmin Pilot, among others. One of the advantages of an EFB is the ability to store information about specific aircraft. Information about onboard equipment can easily be stored and used when filing flight plans without entering the same information every time. As an instrument flight instructor, I’ve found that equipment flight plan codes stored in EFBs are commonly incorrect. Let’s dig deeper into the codes.

Our focus is on the two blocks dealing with equipment in the Flight Plan (FAA Form 7233-4): Block 10: Equipment and Block 18: Other Information. Note that since the old domestic flight plan was dropped in August 2019, it is now just the Flight Plan; let’s drop the “ICAO” and “International” monikers.