I am planning a flight to Bolzano LIPB, with a diversion to Brac LDSB if LIPB has an overcast (LIPB has big rocks all around it).
Eurocontrol IFR…
The obvious issue is one of route validation for the flight to the alternate. Normally the leg to the alternate is assumed to be a DCT but that isn’t going to happen in Europe unless you declare an emergency.
Think of ETOPS.
I have often given Biggin as my alternate when going from there to a place on the Continent where, if I couldn’t get in I may as well come back because there was no point going anywhere else.
What process do ATC use to handle such a diversion?
The IFR controller one might be speaking to near LIPB (while still at FL150) won’t even know where LDSB is, and may not have any means of finding out because it is way beyond his sector, so I will have to give him an initial heading.
ETOPS is not quite the same thing because an airliner on one engine will be doing a DCT regardless of ATC thinks, and at FL300+ there isn’t an issue with obstacle clearance.
You will make yourself a few new enemies with a stunt like that. Don’t do it.
An alternate is supposed to be close to the destination so that ATC can handle the diversion tactically. The routing to the alternate needs to be IFPS conforming for fuel planning purposes (and in case of lost comm). However, the routing to the alternate is not part of the filed flight plan and ATC will not know what you used. autorouter can handle routes to alternates (i.e. other than DCT) but there is currently no user interface for it.
What happens in your scenario is that you tell a poor local ATC that you want to go somewhere he probably has never heard. This poor soul will then call his boss who’s sitting at a desk behind and ask him what to do. The boss will pronounce a list of very exquisite Italian curse words and tell ATC to direct you towards the FIR border while he tries to sort something out. Then the boss will call an AIS colleague, combine your case with a new list of exquisite Italian curse words, briefly contemplate to call the Italian airforce to take you down and then ask the AIS guy to call Croatia to arrange for a way to accommodate you.
In the end you will probably get there but your list of enemies will have grown tremendously. If you really believe you have to file a flight plan for a flight that you don’t know where it will go to, I would file to Bolzano with a nearby alternate and discuss very early enroute the possibility of a diversion. Preferably with German or Austrian ATC. Especially Austrian ATC is not very busy at low levels and generally clever and helpful.
@peter
Did you think about planning a flight to Brac with Bolzano as alternate ?
We´ve had guys come in from overseas, hold for an hour and then divert to Rome instead of landing at Frankfurt. There´s no rule against it, and it´s usually not a problem either.
I would file two plans – one from Shoreham to Bolzano and another from Bolzano to Brac (starting at approximate time of arriving to Bolzano). Then if you’re landing to Bolzano, cancel second plan (or ask ATC to cancel it for you). If you’re not landing at Bolzano, ask ATC to close the first plan and activate the second one with vectors to closest point of second plan. That’s what I usually use on training flights to LJMB for IR revalidation – they want you file one plan executing approach(es) and another for flying out from LJMB to your final destination (usually the airport you came from).
LIPB N0142F170 VIC5A VIC/N0148F130 N503 INBUT/N0152F110 N503 LAREN/N0153F100 Z122 LABIN/N0155F090 L614 PUL N606 LOS W45 SPL SPL5N LDSB
326 nautical miles. (10% overhead). Carry alternate fuel for that route. If you’ve flown an approach, you’ll need to fly the VIC SID anyway. If you decide to divert while still at cruise, you can just fly L12 to VIC above its MEA. I don’t really see the problem. They have 30 mins to sort it out with the Croatians while you head for VIC.
Why not build an IFR route to LDSB through the vicinity of LIPB, and designate LDSB as the main destination and LIPB as alternate? After all, you don’t have to explain why you decided to divert.
In the US, there is no obligation to divert to a filed alternate. Up until ICAO flightplans were introduced into the US, the domestic flightplan as transmitted to ATC does not include the alternate, so ATC doesn’t have a clue where the pilot wants to go and will always ask the pilot to state intentions in the event of a missed approach. With the ICAO format, the alternate information is sent to ATC, but I don’t think it is displayed.
