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EASA ATPL 033 Flight Planning study materials
EASA ATPL 033 Flight Planning study resources

EASA ATPL 033 Flight Planning: Flight plans: content, filing, ATS requirements and use of the ATS flight plan form

EASA ATPL 033 Flight Planning · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

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Flight plans: content, filing, ATS requirements and use of the ATS flight plan form

Domain 1 tests the ATS flight plan: field content, filing timelines, amendment rules and the limits of the document.

Purpose and status

  • The ATS flight plan supplies air traffic services with the data needed for ATC, alerting and search and rescue. It is not a fuel, mass-and-balance or performance record.
  • It is filed with the ATS unit serving the departure aerodrome, or another unit by arrangement, and must normally be filed at least 60 minutes before departure unless the ATS authority prescribes otherwise.
  • A plan filed more than 24 hours ahead carries DOF/ in field 18 and is normally not accepted earlier than 120 hours before departure.

Fields you must know

  • Field 7 aircraft identification (maximum 7 characters); field 8 flight rules and type of flight (e.g. I/S); field 9 type and wake turbulence category (L, M, H, J); field 10a equipment and 10b surveillance.
  • Field 13 departure aerodrome and estimated off-block time (EOBT) - never the actual take-off time.
  • Field 15 cruising speed, cruising level and route, with each speed or level change at its point.
  • Field 16 destination, total EET and destination alternate(s); field 18 other information (REG/, SEL/, DOF/, RMK/).
  • Field 19 supplementary data: E/ fuel endurance, P/ persons on board, R/ emergency radio, S/ survival equipment, N/ remarks.

Changes and closing

  • A delay of more than 30 minutes in EOBT must be notified; changes of type, speed, level or route are handled by amendment (CHG) or a new plan.
  • In flight, re-routing is requested from ATC, not filed independently.
  • The plan is closed by an arrival report or automatically by radar/ADS-B coverage; an unclosed plan triggers alerting action.

Worked example

A flight files EOBT 0830 with a total EET of 3 h 20 min and a destination alternate. Field 19 E/ is entered as 0350, because endurance must be at least EET + 30 min. If the aircraft is ready at 0905, the EOBT has slipped 35 minutes, so the operator must advise ATS and amend field 13 before departure; ATC would otherwise still hold a plan for 0830 and the alerting times would be wrong.

Traps

  • Quoting actual take-off time in field 13 instead of EOBT.
  • Entering total fuel on board in E/ instead of endurance, and forgetting the 30-minute addition.
  • Treating the ATS plan as the commander's signed operational document.
  • Filing a route change in flight rather than requesting it from ATC.