ATC Flight Plan — Page 206, Lesson 210

I want to walk you through the ATC Flight Plan chapter. This is a new topic, so let's start from the very beginning. First, what is an ATC Flight Plan? It is simply advance notice of a pilot's intentions for a flight. That notice covers the route, including departure and destination, the cruising level and speed, and information about the crew and passengers. The plan uses a set format, and that format is important for two reasons: it ensures completeness of information, and it makes the data compatible with electronic transfer between Air Traffic Services and other units. As a student, you need to understand and answer questions on all aspects of ATC Flight Plans. That includes both individual plans and Repetitive Flight Plans, which we call RPLs. Specifically, you need to know the type of plan — individual or repetitive — the format of an ICAO flight plan, the information required for the plan, and how to complete, file, cancel, or amend a flight plan. Now let's go through the key definitions, because these are the exact terms you'll use operationally. A flight plan is specified information provided to air traffic service units, relative to an intended flight or portion of a flight of an aircraft. So it's the information you give to ATC about what you intend to do. A repetitive flight plan, or RPL, is a flight plan related to a series of frequently recurring, regularly operated individual flights with identical basic features. The operator submits this plan for retention and repetitive use by ATS units. There are strict conditions for using an RPL: these flights must be operated on the same day or days of consecutive weeks, and they must be operated on at least 10 occasions, or every day over a period of at least 10 consecutive days. The elements of each flight must have a high degree of stability — meaning the route, timing, and other details don't change much from one flight to the next. A filed flight plan is the flight plan as filed with an ATS unit by the pilot or a designated representative, without any subsequent changes. So that's the original plan you submit before any clearances modify it. A current flight plan is the flight plan, including changes, if any, brought about by subsequent clearances. So once ATC gives you amendments or clearances, the plan that reflects those changes is the current flight plan. Now, some time-related definitions. Estimated elapsed time is the estimated time required to proceed from one significant point to another. So if you're going from waypoint A to waypoint B, the estimated elapsed time is how long you expect that leg to take. Estimated off-block time is the estimated time at which the aircraft will commence movement associated with departure. That's when you start pushing back or taxiing out — the moment the aircraft first moves for the purpose of departure. Estimated time of arrival, or ETA, has two definitions depending on the type of flight. For IFR flights — Instrument Flight Rules — it is the time at which it is estimated that the aircraft will arrive over that designated point, defined by reference to navigational aids, from which it is intended that an instrument approach will be commenced. If no navigational aid is associated with the aerodrome, then for IFR it's the time the aircraft will arrive over the aerodrome. For VFR flights — Visual Flight Rules — it is simply the time at which it is estimated the aircraft will arrive over the aerodrome. These definitions come from ICAO Doc 4444, the Procedures for Air Navigation Services — Air Traffic Management, dated 22 November 2007. That's the authoritative source document. That figure shows you a specimen ATC flight plan form, which we'll work through in detail as we go.