Is it always required with a destination alternate for IFR flight?

If either the ceiling or visibility is forecast to be less than 2,000 feet or 3 statute miles during that arrival window, you are required to file an alternate. Also, the destination airport must have at least one instrument approach procedure or an alternate airport will always be required.



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Almost all flights require Destination Alternates but Take-off and En-route alternates are only required in specific circumstances and the departure aerodrome may also be an en-route or destination alternate for the same flight.

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14 CFR 91.169 (b) (2) (i) states that an alternate airport is not required if “for at least 1 hour before and for 1 hour after the estimated time of arrival the ceiling will be at least 2000 feet above the airport elevation and the visibility will be at least 3 statute miles.” To help remember those conditions of the ...

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An airport may not be qualified for alternate use if the airport NAVAID is unmonitored, is Global Positioning System (GPS) based, or if it does not have weather reporting capabilities.

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So you can file with the destination or the alternate having only a GPS approach, but not both. WAAS-equipped aircraft can file for destinations and alternates having only GPS approaches. In both cases, the weather at the time of arrival must satisfy the LNAV or circling minimums or higher if noted.

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Ground-based navigation equipment is not required for en route IFR RNAV operations when using GPS WAAS navigation systems. To use GPS for IFRapproaches, you must use GPS avionics that are properly approved and installed, and all approach procedures to be flown must be retrievable from the airborne navigation database.

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Therefore, a pilot may file an IFR flight plan to an airpo1t without an instrument approach procedure, and that flight plan must include th. e information as required by§ 91.169(a)(l) & (2).

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Airports with alternate minimums that are not authorized are denoted on the approach chart with the “ ” designation and are not listed in this section. NA - means alternate minimums are not authorized due to unmonitored facility, absence of weather reporting service, or lack of adequate navigation coverage.

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Entering a terminal without a ticket is prohibited in general. For tickets, you can check last minute flights from USA. You cannot bypass the security and have a nice cup of cappuccino inside the airport lobby area. Even if you have to see off a senior citizen or a minor, you would still need a visitor pass.

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If there is any question of weather, you can (and should) retain your IFR clearance until on the ground and then cancel. However, there may be good reasons to cancel depending upon circumstances. For example somebody may be following you and cannot be cleared for the approach until you cancel your IFR clearance.

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