Boosting knowledge about weather can help make pilots safer. [iStock]
Key Takeaways:
Filing pilot weather reports (PIREPs) in general aviation is difficult, leading to a shortage of lower-altitude weather data crucial for GA pilots.
The previous dedicated and streamlined service for filing PIREPs, the Enroute Flight Advisory Service (EFAS) or Flight Watch, was terminated in 2015.
Pilots now file PIREPs by contacting Flight Service Stations (FSS), which requires finding location-specific frequencies and FSS names, sometimes involving transmitting on one frequency and listening for a response over a VOR.
Question: How do I file a pilot weather report online?
Answer: In general aviation, one of the most cumbersome things to do while in flight is to file a pilot weather report, more commonly known as a PIREP. This has created the unfortunate situation that on any given day 98 percent of the PIREPs in the system are typically describing weather conditions at or above 18,000 feet.
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Scott resides in Charlotte, North Carolina, and flies regularly throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast U.S. He is a CFI and former NWS meteorologist. Scott is the author of "The Skew-T log (p) and Me: A Primer for Pilots" and the founder of EZWxBrief.
