Choosing Alternate Airfields

T-45C TS INav-08

Fuel, Weather, and Alternate Airfield Planning

CHOOSING ALTERNATE AIRFIELDS

For each flight, you must determine whether or not an alternate is required. To make this determination,

refer to the forecast weather at your destination and the OPNAVINST 3710.7 criteria.

NOTE: CNATRA requires an alternate for all IFR flights.

Planning for an Alternate

If your destination weather does not meet minimal criteria, you are required to select an appropriate

alternate in your flight preparation so that you will have a safe alternate in case you need one. First,

carefully apply OPNAVINST 3710.7 weather minimum rules to your destination weather.

1. If the ceiling and visibility are between 0-0 and published minimums (NLT 200-1/2), you require an

alternate that must be 3,000-3 or better at ETA +/- 1 hour.

2. If the ceiling and visibility are between published minimums up to but not including 3,000-3, you again

require an alternate. The weather for a non-precision approach at your alternate must be the non-

precision’s published minimums plus 300-1. The weather for a precision approach at your alternate

must be the precision’s published minimums plus 200-1/2. (For a single-piloted aircraft, this will be

ILS only; PAR does not qualify.)

Examine the following two situations, each depicting one of the above rules.

First, let’s look at Situation 1, in which your destination forecast is below published minimums.

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