How to Change a Flight Plan

Flight plans are documents filed by a pilot with the FAA detailing things such as point of departure, point of arrival and estimated time en route. They are optional for visual flight rules (VFR) flights and are used solely for any potential search and rescue. Instrument flight rules (IFR) flights, however, require that a flight plan be filed to initiate tracking and routing services from air traffic control. A flight plan can be filed on a computer at any airport's fixed based operator (FBO) or via email from certain websites.

Things You'll Need

• Computer with Internet connection

Instructions

Changing a Flight Plan

1. Go into the local FBO and access its flight plan computer.

2. Close out your previously submitted flight plan.

3. Plan your route introducing any modifications necessary from the previous flight plan.

4. Submit a new flight plan. This can be done either on the FBO's computer or via the Internet on your own computer.

Tips & Warnings

• Flight plans should always be filed as an added measure of safety

References

• Federal Aviation Administration