Subscriber question:
"I took an IFR training flight from Groton, CT to Chester, CT in actual IMC. I went missed at Chester and expected New York Approach to send me back to Groton, because that was my filed alternate. Instead, NY Approach said I needed a whole separate flight plan. Why was that? They vectored us until the handoff to Providence Approach and it was fine. Was I wrong?" — Bill L.
Kevin:
“There are a few things going on here. First, is that ATC has no idea what your filed alternate is, or even if you filed one at all. The filed alternate is only for the investigators if there’s some sort of incident. When you need to divert or go to another airport under IFR—for whatever reason—you must tell ATC where you want to go, and they will clear you to wherever you need to go. It doesn’t need to be your filed alternate.
Second is that you don’t need to file a new flight plan. I’ve had airlines divert many times. Those flight crews have whole departments with dispatchers supporting them. Even with all of that, I wouldn’t dream of telling them they need to file something new. ATC shouldn’t have told you to file a new flight plan right after you went missed for real and needed to divert.
Of course, an IFR training flight is a bit different. You know before you depart which airports you want to use for approaches. If you’re staying within one facility’s airspace, one flight plan is sufficient—as long as you aren’t making any full-stop landings on the way. If you’re going to fly between multiple facilities, you should file separate flight plans. If you don’t, you may find yourself holding for a while until coordination between facilities can be completed.”
Do you file multiple flight plans if you're only doing low approaches for practice and returning to your home airport?
