February 25, 2013
Last week the FAA issued a NOTAM allowing properly-equipped aircraft to be issued IFR departure clearances from uncontrolled airports that are beyond 40 NM from the NAVAID without radar monitoring. GNSS-equipped aircraft may now receive these clearances with point-to-point route segments, on the ground, or in the air. Prior to this change, IFR clearances were only issued when either ATC radar monitoring was available or when a departure procedure was published including a transition to the en-route structure.
Review the Full NOTAM FDC 3/9599
!FDC 3/9599 FDC SPECIAL NOTICE … FAA NOTICE N JO 7110.613, EXCEPTION FOR GNSS-EQUIPPED AIRCRAFT, ALLOWS PROPERLY EQUIPPED AIRCRAFT TO BE ISSUED INSTRUMENT FLIGHT RULES (IFR) DEPARTURE CLEARANCES FROM UNCONTROLLED AIRPORTS WHICH ARE BEYOND 40 NM FROM THE NAVAID WITHOUT RADAR MONITORING. GNSS-EQUIPPED AIRCRAFT MAY RECEIVE DEPARTURE CLEARANCES WITH POINT TO POINT ROUTE SEGMENTS, ON THE GROUND OR IN THE AIR. IN ORDER TO RECEIVE AN AIRBORNE IFR CLEARANCE, THE PILOT MUST CLEARLY STATE THEY ARE ESTABLISHED ON THE INITIAL POINT TO POINT ROUTE SEGMENT. THE POINTS MUST BE PUBLISHED NAVAIDS, WAYPOINTS, FIXES OR AIRPORTS RETRIEVABLE FROM THE AIRCRAFT S NAVIGATION DATABASE. THE MAXIMUM DISTANCE BETWEEN POINTS MUST NOT EXCEED 500 MILES. HOWEVER, IT IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED THAT THE FIRST FILED POINT BE A PUBLISHED, EN ROUTE LOW ALTITUDE FIX WITHIN 50 NM OF THE DEPARTURE AIRPORT TO FACILITATE THE DEPARTURE CLEARANCE. THIS ASSISTS AIR TRAFFIC SINCE THE FILED POINTS MUST BE DISPLAYED ON CONTROLLER S VIDEO MAPS OR DEPICTED ON THE CONTROLLER CHART. TERRAIN AND OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE RESPONSIBILITIES, AS DEFINED IN THE AERONAUTICAL INFORMATION MANUAL, PARAGRAPHS 4-4-1, 4-4-7, AND 5-2-8, STILL APPLY. FOR QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT PAUL EURE AT 202-385-8451.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.