RIF/LEMD — Page 238, Lesson 245

I want to walk you through the supplementary information fields of the ICAO flight plan form. These are the fields that appear after the main items 7 through 19, and they provide additional detail that ATS — Air Traffic Services — may need. Let's start with RIF/. This stands for "Re-routing Information." You use this field when the flight has been re-cleared or re-routed while already airborne. You insert the new route, and if the aircraft registration markings differ from the aircraft identification you put in Item 7, you put those registration markings here. So RIF/ carries the registration if it's different from what's in Item 7. Next, REG/. This is simply the registration markings of the aircraft — the same thing as the RIF/ field, but used when it's not already obvious from Item 7. If the aircraft identification in Item 7 is the flight number or callsign, not the registration, you put the actual registration here. SEL/ is the SELCAL Code. SELCAL stands for Selective Calling — it's a system that allows the ground station to call a specific aircraft without the flight crew having to monitor the radio continuously. If the appropriate ATS authority prescribes a SELCAL code for your flight, you enter it here. OPR/ is the name of the operator — the airline or company operating the flight. You only need to fill this in if the operator is not obvious from the aircraft identification in Item 7. For example, if Item 7 says "BAW123," the operator is clearly British Airways, so you might not need OPR/. But if the identification is just a registration, you'd put the operator name here. STS/ is for special handling by ATS. This tells Air Traffic Services that your flight needs special treatment. For example, if you're operating a hospital aircraft, you'd put STS/HOSP. If you have one engine inoperative, you'd put STS/ONE Eng INOP. This alerts controllers to give you priority or specific handling. TYP/ is the type of aircraft. If you used ZZZZ in Item 9 — which is the field for aircraft type identification — you need to specify the actual type here. If there are multiple aircraft, you precede the type with the number of aircraft. So if you have two Boeing 737s, you'd put TYP/2 B737. PER/ is aircraft performance data. This is only required if the appropriate ATS authority prescribes it. It might include performance category information for separation purposes. COM/ is for significant data related to communication capability. You use one or more of the letters S, H, V, and M. S stands for satellite data link, H for HF data link, V for VHF data link, and M for SSR Mode S data link. So you'd write something like DAT/S for satellite, DAT/H for HF, DAT/V for VHF, or DAT/M for Mode S. This tells ATS what communication links your aircraft has available. DAT/ is for significant data related to navigation equipment, as required by the appropriate ATS authority. This is where you'd put information about your navigation capabilities. NAV/ is also for significant data related to navigation equipment, again as required by the appropriate ATS authority. These two fields — DAT/ and NAV/ — serve similar purposes but are separate fields on the form. DEP/ is for the departure aerodrome. If you used ZZZZ in Item 13 — which is the departure aerodrome field — you put the actual name of the departure aerodrome here. Alternatively, if you used AFIL in Item 13 — which means the flight plan will be filed in the air — you put the ICAO four-letter location indicator of the ATS unit from which supplementary flight plan data can be obtained. DEST/ is for the destination aerodrome. If you used ZZZZ in Item 16 — the destination field — you put the actual name of the destination aerodrome here. ALTN/ is for destination alternate aerodromes. Again, if you used ZZZZ in Item 16, you put the names of the destination alternate aerodromes here. Finally, RALT/ is for en-route alternate aerodromes. These are alternates along your route, not at the destination. You list their names here. So to summarise: these supplementary fields — RIF/, REG/, SEL/, OPR/, STS/, TYP/, PER/, COM/, DAT/, NAV/, DEP/, DEST/, ALTN/, and RALT/ — provide the extra detail that ATS needs to handle your flight properly, especially when the main items use ZZZZ or AFIL codes. Each field has a specific purpose, and you only fill in the ones that are relevant to your flight and required by the appropriate ATS authority.