g. Aircraft arriving to locations in U.S. territorial airspace must meet the entry requirements as described in
AIM Section 6, National Security and Interception Procedures.
5-1-12. Change in Flight Plan
a. In addition to altitude or flight level, destination and/or route changes, increasing or decreasing the speed
of an aircraft constitutes a change in a flight plan. Therefore, at any time the average true airspeed at cruising
altitude between reporting points varies or is expected to vary from that given in the flight plan by plus or minus
5 percent, or 10 knots, whichever is greater, ATC should be advised.
b. All changes to existing flight plans should be completed more than 46 minutes prior to the proposed
departure time. Changes must be made with the initial flight plan service provider. If the initial flight plan"s
service provider is unavailable, filers may contact an ATC facility or FSS to make the necessary revisions. Any
revision 46 minutes or less from the proposed departure time must be coordinated through an ATC facility or
FSS.
5-1-13. Change in Proposed Departure Time
a. To prevent computer saturation in the en route environment, parameters have been established to delete
proposed departure flight plans which have not been activated. Most centers have this parameter set so as to delete
these flight plans a minimum of 2 hours after the proposed departure time or Expect Departure Clearance Time
(EDCT). To ensure that a flight plan remains active, pilots whose actual departure time will be delayed 2 hours
or more beyond their filed departure time, are requested to notify ATC of their new proposed departure time.
b. Due to traffic saturation, ATC personnel frequently will be unable to accept these revisions via radio. It is
recommended that you forward these revisions to a flight plan service provider or FSS.
5-1-14. Closing VFR/DVFR Flight Plans
A pilot is responsible for ensuring that his/her VFR or DVFR flight plan is canceled. You should close your flight
plan with the nearest FSS, or if one is not available, you may request any ATC facility to relay your cancellation
to the FSS. Control towers do not automatically close VFR or DVFR flight plans since they do not know if a
particular VFR aircraft is on a flight plan. If you fail to report or cancel your flight plan within 1/2 hour after your
ETA, search and rescue procedures are started.
REFERENCE-
14 CFR Section 91.153.
14 CFR Section 91.169.

5-1-15. Canceling IFR Flight Plan
a. 14 CFR Sections 91.153 and 91.169 include the statement "When a flight plan has been activated, the
pilot-in-command, upon canceling or completing the flight under the flight plan, must notify an FAA Flight
Service Station or ATC facility."
b. An IFR flight plan may be canceled at any time the flight is operating in VFR conditions outside Class A
airspace by pilots stating "CANCEL MY IFR FLIGHT PLAN" to the controller or air/ground station with which
they are communicating. Immediately after canceling an IFR flight plan, a pilot should take the necessary action
to change to the appropriate air/ground frequency, VFR radar beacon code and VFR altitude or flight level.
c. ATC separation and information services will be discontinued, including radar services (where applicable).
Consequently, if the canceling flight desires VFR radar advisory service, the pilot must specifically request it.
NOTE-
Pilots must be aware that other procedures may be applicable to a flight that cancels an IFR flight plan within an area where
a special program, such as a designated TRSA, Class C airspace, or Class B airspace, has been established.

d. If a DVFR flight plan requirement exists, the pilot is responsible for filing this flight plan to replace the
canceled IFR flight plan. If a subsequent IFR operation becomes necessary, a new IFR flight plan must be filed
and an ATC clearance obtained before operating in IFR conditions.

5-1-18

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