If no weather forecast is available for a specific airport, can you plan or file for that location?

If no weather forecast is available for a specific airport, can you plan or file for that location?

• A. Yes
• B. No
• C. Only if you have another forecast source
• D. Only if you are IFR

Answer: (B)

Forecasted weather for the destination is needed to plan whether the flight can meet minimums and to decide if an alternate is required. If no forecast exists for that airport, you can’t reliably determine what conditions will be there, which makes it unsafe to plan a trip or file a flight plan to that location. This holds for both VFR and IFR planning, but it’s especially important for IFR, where meeting weather minimums is a prerequisite to filing. Even if you have another forecast source, it doesn’t replace the official forecast for that airport, so you should not plan or file for that location until forecast information becomes available.

Forecasted weather for the destination is needed to plan whether the flight can meet minimums and to decide if an alternate is required. If no forecast exists for that airport, you can’t reliably determine what conditions will be there, which makes it unsafe to plan a trip or file a flight plan to that location. This holds for both VFR and IFR planning, but it’s especially important for IFR, where meeting weather minimums is a prerequisite to filing. Even if you have another forecast source, it doesn’t replace the official forecast for that airport, so you should not plan or file for that location until forecast information becomes available.