Air to Ground
Why Bother with a VFR Flight Plan?
Do you know where the idea of a VFR flight plan originated? With the military of course – during the War to end all Wars. In WWI aircraft were primarily used as scouts, finding the location of the enemy. The commanders told them to look over specific terrain and then report back. Then, as now, the squadron leaders scheduled where they were intending to fly and when they were expected to report back.
As both commercial and private pilots began entering the aviation arena procedures were put in place whereby search and rescue could be initiated should an aircraft become overdue. Responsibility for this action was given to the operators assigned to the Airway Radio Stations – forerunners of today’s Flight Service. Over time the precise steps taken by Flight Service were designed so that if someone did find themselves landing prematurely, and managed to survive, trained search and rescue personnel would be looking for them within a short period of time. Statistics have shown that in such a circumstance the accident victim’s chances of survival are highest when not exposed to the elements for over 24 hours.
As radar technology became available the ability to go IFR means that someone has their eye on you all the time, but as every pilot who has felt the thrill of leaping upwards into the air knows, it’s more fun to just fly where you like rather than have someone always telling you where to go.
The VFR flight plan gives you that freedom and still offers the security of knowing someone will be searching for you if you do not arrive at your destination on time. There are other options of course. You could choose to have a family member or friends listen for you to call them when you land, but what if you land somewhere without cell phone coverage? How long should they wait beyond your ETA to raise an alarm? If they do have to raise an alarm have you instructed them on who to call and what information will be needed for Flight Service to start the SAR process? Do they know exactly what airport you left, what route you took and what your aircraft type and identification are?
If you can say with certainty that your support group is well trained in these matters and won’t be distracted by a movie or participating in a local ballgame, then you probably don’t need to bother with Flight Service. But most pilots want to know that there is someone whose job it is to monitor inbound VFR lists will be watching out for them.
There are circumstances where a flight plan of some kind is mandatory – be it IFR or VFR. These include flying across the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) from another country and flying in the vicinity of a VIP Temporary Flight Restriction. Both also require transponder identification codes and being in contact with Air Traffic Control.
You can file flight plans through DUATs or with a Flight Service Station. DUATs allows you to go online and input the data yourself, but there are often glitches with the data getting through to the Radio you will activate with. The most common problem deals with time. Flight plans filed through DUATs do not transmit to Flight Service until an hour before the estimated time of Departure. If whoever inputs the flight plan miscalculates ZULU time, the flight plan will not be there. Many pilots get upset when that happens believing that the information should be available.
When DUATs does transmit a flight plan, only part of the data is sent. The rest of the data is not available to Flight Service unless the aircraft goes overdue – then the FSS sends a message to DUATs requesting the rest of the flight plan. Some Flight Service specialists will ask the pilots for their names and phone numbers when they activate the flight plan so that the information will be more readily available should the aircraft go overdue.
VFR Flight plans filed with any Flight Service in the continental U.S. are immediately available to whatever radio you activate with. If you forget to activate right away and call half an hour out or later, be sure to let the specialist know your departure point. Flight plans stay in the computer for two hours past the proposal time. If they are not activated they automatically drop out and the data is stored in the history files.
Filing a VFR flight plan also allows a pilot to organize his thoughts concerning the upcoming flight. It forces him to scrutinize his route and research what meteorological forces are in place that could help or hinder the flight.
A little note here about your family and the SAR process. One of our first calls after determining that your aircraft is not at the destination airport is to the phone number listed on the flight plan. If that phone number is your cell phone – that’s great. If it is your house phone and your mate answers, we try to tactfully ask if they’ve heard from you. Please let them know that a call from us does not necessarily mean anything except you haven’t cancelled the flight plan yet. We usually just ask them to have you call us when you get in.
For decades pilot have used VFR flight plans for peace of mind. The system is time tested and works. The specialists at flight service are the most visible portion of the search and rescue procedure, but they are the vanguard of a nationwide team of aviation professionals who can be mobilized quickly when called upon.
Rose Marie Kern has worked in Air Traffic Control in general and Flight Service in particular for 27 years. If you have questions or suggestions for articles contact her at author@rosemariekern.com