The en route phase

Handoffs between controllers, the reports you owe ATC without being asked, and staying ahead of a cockpit that moves faster than you can think.

14 min read · Flying IFR: departure to landing

After this lesson you can

  • Describe how a handoff between controllers works and what the initial call-up should include.
  • List the items a position report must contain, and know when position reporting is and is not required.
  • Name the reports owed to ATC "at all times," independent of radar contact.
  • Explain how a PIREP is built and why "negative contact" still matters on an IFR flight in IMC.

N7421G levels at 4,000 feet a few minutes after departure, in solid cloud. This particular flight is short enough that it may only ever talk to one facility - Boston Approach - handling both the climb-out and the eventual descent into KBOS. A longer trip would cross from one Center’s airspace into another, each handoff its own small transaction: a frequency change, an initial call-up, and sometimes a report the pilot has to build rather than being asked for.

The en route phase looks like the quiet part of an IFR flight, and workload-wise it often is - but it is also where a pilot can get furthest behind the airplane simply by relaxing the habits built during departure. The reports in this lesson are not busywork; they are what lets a controller, who cannot see out the windshield, keep the picture of where every aircraft actually is.

The rest of this lesson

  1. 1.Handoffs, in miniature
  2. 2.Position reports, in and out of radar
  3. 3.Reports ATC expects even in radar contact
  4. 4.Staying ahead of the airplane
  5. 5.PIREPs: reporting what you find
  6. 6.Equipment malfunctions in flight

These 6 sections, their figures, the checks along the way and the end-of-lesson quiz come with the IFR track. Paid once, yours for good.

See what the IFR track costsEvery module 1 is free to read, no account, no card.

Key terms

Try to recall each definition before turning the card.