International Flight Plan, DD-1801 Guide
Excerpt from IAOPA Website

General instructions

• Use capital letters.

• Adhere closely to the prescribed format.

• Report hours in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC, or Zulu).

• Use the 24-hour clock (e.g., 1800Z, 0930Z, etc.).

• The block preceding item 3 is to be completed by air traffic facilities.

• Complete item 19 as indicated. It will facilitate help by search and rescue

(SAR) services.

Item 7: Aircraft identification—Enter one of the following:

• Aircraft registration (e.g., N172B).

• ICAO designator followed by the flight number (e.g., KLM511).

• Call sign assigned by military authorities.

Item 8: Flight rules and type of flight

Flight rules—Indicate flight rules governing the flight:

I—IFR V—VFR

Y—IFR changing to VFR Z—VFR changing to IFR

Type of flight—Indicate which one:

S—Scheduled air transport N—Non-scheduled air transport

G—General aviation M—Military

X—Other

Item 9: Aircraft type and wake turbulence category/number

Type of aircraft — Enter appropriate ICAO designator (e.g., TB10, BE90, etc. ) .

Note : If no designator has been assigned (or for formation flights comprising more than one type aircraft ) , indicate " Z Z Z Z" and specify the aircraft type(s) in item 18 preceded by "TYP / ."

Wake turbulence category— Indicate wake turbulence intensity created by the aircraft :

H — Heavy (aircraft with a maximum certificated takeoff weight of

136,000 kg/300,000 lb or more).

M — Medium (aircraft with a maximum certificated takeoff weight of less than 136,000 kg/300,000 lb, but more than 7,000 kg/15,500 lb).

L—Light (aircraft with a maximum certificated takeoff weight of 7,000

kg/15,500 lb or less).

Item 10: Equipment

Communication and navigation:

N—No nav/com equipment available or equipment is out of service.

S—Standard nav/com equipment available (see note below).

Type of nav/com equipment—Indicate:

A—Loran A C—Loran C

D—DME E—Decca

F—ADF H—HF RTF

I—Inertial navigation L—ILS

Z—Other (specify in item 18 preceded by "COM/" and/or "NAV/")

Transponder—Indicate:

N—None

0—Transponder/no code

2—Transponder/Mode A (two-digit code)

4—Transponder/Mode A (four-digit code)

C—Transponder/Mode A and Mode C (four-digit code)

Item 13: Departure airport and departure time

Airport—Use the ICAO four-letter location identifier.

Ti m e—Estimated time of depart u re (ETD). Use the 24-hour clock reported in UTC.

Note : When ATC personnel receive a flight plan filed in flight, they will enter "A F I L" and specify the ICAO four-letter identifier of the facility’s location in item 18 preceded by " D E P / ." Time will be given as actual time of arrival (ATA ) or estimated time of arrival (ETA) over the first point of the route .

Cruising speed—State true airspeed (TAS). Choose appropriate term:

1. Kilometers per hour, shown as "K" followed by four numbers (e.g., K0830).

2. Knots, expressed as "N" followed by four numbers (e.g., N0250).

3. Mach number, using the nearest hundredths of unit preceded by

"M" (e.g., M082).

Cruising level—State planned cruising level. Choose appropriate term:

1. Flight level, expressed as "F" followed by three numbers (e.g., F085).

2. Altitude in hundreds of feet, expressed as "A" followed by three numbers

(e.g., A045).

3. Standard metric level in tens of meters, expressed as "S" followed by

four numbers (e.g., S1130).

4. Altitude in tens of meters, expressed as "M" followed by four numbers

(e.g., M0840).

5. VFR (unspecified cruising level).

Route—Include speed, flight level, or flight rule changes:

Along designated routes—Enter:

1. Route designator (or the letters "DCT" if departure airport is outside a designated route segment followed by the point of joining the first designated route).

2. Each point where speed, flight level, or flight rule changes are planned followed by the designator for the next route segment (even if the same as the previous one) or the letters "DCT" if the next segment will be outside a designated route.

Outside designated routes—Enter:

1. Be a ring and distance from a navigation aid for points normally not m o re than 30 minutes’ flying time or 200 nautical miles apart (or when required by ATC, define route expressed in degrees and/or minutes of longitude/latitude).

2. Each point where speed, flight level, or flight rule changes are planned. Speed or altitude change—enter the point/designator followed by a slash and new speed or altitude information (e.g., LN/N0250A045). Flight rule change—enter the point/designator followed by a space and the new flight rule (e.g., LN VFR, LN/N0250A045 IFR, etc.). Cruise climb—enter the letter "C" followed by a slash, then the point at which cruise climb is planned, followed by a slash and the speed to be maintained, followed by the two levels defining the layer occupied during cruise climb, or the level above which cruise is planned followed by the letters "PLUS" (e. g . , C/48N050W/N0250F120F180, C/48N050W/M082F290PLUS, etc. ) .

Item 16: Destination airport, alternate airport, and time enroute

Airport and alternate— Use the ICAO four-letter location identifier (limit alternate to two airports).

No t e : If no identifier has been assigned, use " Z Z Z Z" and specify the airport name in item 18 preceded by "DEST/."

Time—Estimated time enroute (ETE). Use the 24-hour clock reported in UTC .

Item 18: Other information:

0—No other information

REG/—Aircraft registration if different from item 7

TYP/—Aircraft type if "ZZZZ" noted in item 9

DEP/—Departure airport if "ZZZZ" is noted in item 13

DEST/—Destination airport if "ZZZZ" is noted in item 16

ALTN/—Alternate airport if "ZZZZ" is noted in item 16

RMK/—Any remarks

Item 19: Supplementary information

E /—Endurance— Fuel endurance in hours and minutes. Use the 24-hour clock reported in UTC.

P/—Persons on board—Total number of persons on board.

Emergency / survival equipment— Cross out any item not applicable or available:

R/—Radio—"U" for UHF on 243.0 MHz, "V" for VHF on 121.5 MHz, or

"E" for emergency location beacon-aircraft (ELBA) or emergency locator transmitter (ELT).

S/—Specific survival equipment—(Self-explanatory).

J/—Life jackets—"L" for jackets equipped with lights; "F" for jackets equipped with fluorescein; "U" or "V" indicates radio capability of jackets (write "RDO/" followed by frequencies).

D /—Dinghies— Number on board, total capacity (in persons), and color.

C—Cover—"C" for covered dinghies.

A/—Aircraft color and markings—(Self-explanatory).

N/—Remarks—"N" for remarks.

C/—Pilot—Name of pilot in command.

International Flight Plan

©1996, AOPA’s Aviation USA—1996

For a Checklist-Sized Insert of this gouge, go to the pilot gouge section and download.