Required Reports

For this look, well cover about half of the reports other than position reports per 14 CFR 91.183(a) that Fred Simonds briefly mentions in his Radar Service Gotchas on page 14. Well thoroughly cover those later.

Editorial Staff

Wednesday, November 05, 2014 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The article emphasizes several often-overlooked IFR reports pilots are required to make to ATC or FSS facilities, clarifying that many are not compulsory on CTAF unless requested.
It introduces the "MARVELOUS VFR 500" mnemonic for memorizing these reports, detailing the first six letters ("MARVEL") in this installment.
Many of these specific reports, such as vacating an assigned altitude or reaching/leaving a holding fix, are mandatory regardless of radar contact, while reports like ETA changes become critical when not in radar contact.

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For this look, we’ll cover about half of the reports other than position reports per 14 CFR 91.183(a) that Fred Simonds briefly mentions in his “Radar Service Gotchas” on page 14. We’ll thoroughly cover those later.

The other reports generally come from three sources: 14 CFR 91.183 (specifically paragraphs b and c), 91.187 and AIM 5-3-3. Section i5-3-1 n the AIM is largely about technique in communicating with ATC, while 5-3-2 goes into detail regarding the position reports required by 91.183(a). AIM 5-3-3 is titled “Additional Reports” and I’ve found it to be badly overlooked by many pilots.