Defining Alternates

Many pilots miss the boat on applying alternate minimums when flight planning

The article “Alternate Realities” [Airmanship, January] left out probably the most important and least understood criteria for alternate airport selection. Mr. Veillette starts out talking about the ceiling and visibility requirement of 600 and 2 for precision approach and 800 and 2 for non-precision approach equipped airports, and goes on to say that there is more to it than that. Unfortunately, he then goes on to only explain half of the remaining equation – the most important and most overlooked part.

In the author’s explanation he is referring to the government charts, not Jeppesen. The government charts use the “A” in the triangle to define IFR Alternate Minimums. First, you must c...