Readback: December 2014

During a flight originating in Allegheny County, ATC amended our flight plan on a VOR/DME-equipped (no GPS, at least not in the equipment suffix) aircraft: KAGC AGC073 HOMEE JST300 JST SEG...The change is easy to execute-depart, intercept AGC073 which leads to HOMEE, then fly JST300 to JST-but came a bit as a surprise, because the system would not accept a flight plan that includes intercepting radials (the AGC073 and JST300 components) instead of radial and DME fixes. In talking to FSS their and our assumption was that the AGC073 component was a local ATC operational addition to route us out of busy airspace more precisely.We were wondering if there is a way (or trick) to include such intercept element when filing a flight plan.

Key Takeaways:

• Flight plan systems generally do not accept direct radial intercepts; pilots can work around this by creating custom fixes or acknowledging that ATC often incorporates such routings via SIDs.
• Constant Descent Final Approach (CDFA) is a valuable technique that promotes stabilized approaches and consistency across different approach types, despite some pilot resistance to change.
• Pilots retain ultimate responsibility for terrain clearance, even when provided with ATC vectors, especially when departing VFR in marginal conditions hoping to pick up an IFR clearance.
• A VFR pattern entry clearance from an assigned altitude typically implies permission to descend to pattern altitude, but pilots should always clarify with ATC if they have any doubt.

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