17.2 Manual Flight Planning, PIC Briefing, Flight Watch, and Postflight Closeout

Demonstrate the Complete Dispatch Lifecycle

FAA-S-8081-10E requires manual flight planning, not just printing a computer result. A complete exercise connects aircraft/crew eligibility, weather, route, performance, weight/balance, fuel, release, briefing, inflight reassessment, and postflight communication/documents. The inputs below are explicitly hypothetical teaching values; they are not approved performance data for a named transport airplane.

Establish the scenario and documents

Identify the operation type, aircraft/configuration and current defects, crew qualifications, departure/destination, proposed UTC timing, route, and any supplied special authorizations. Obtain the assigned AFM/performance data, current operating manual and OpSpecs, relevant charts and airport information, weather products, NOTAMs, and load information. Define the units for every input.

Then check applicability. An ordinary domestic jet exercise uses the relevant domestic operational-control, alternate, and fuel rules. Do not silently add an exemption, ETOPS approval, special-fuel authorization, or nonstandard alternate method that the examiner has not supplied. If a required input is missing, explain the gap and obtain appropriate information rather than inventing a legal value.

Weather and airport assessment

Review observations and forecasts for departure, destination, required alternates, and route hazards at their relevant times. Check the domestic no-alternate ETA ± one-hour window separately from destination landing-weather authorization and the alternate's own planning minima at its arrival time. Evaluate conditional groups under applicable approved procedures. Add any required second alternate for marginal domestic destination/first-alternate forecasts.

Verify runway/approach availability, field conditions, winds, rescue/services, and required takeoff alternate where origin weather is below landing minima. Use surface charts, upper-air and SIGWX information, satellite/radar, advisories and PIREPs together. A destination TAF meeting the no-alternate threshold does not prove the route is free of unsafe weather.

Route, time, and fuel calculation

Choose an authorized route and altitude satisfying navigation, airspace, terrain, aircraft, and weather constraints. Apply the approved climb, cruise, and descent data, winds, and operational assumptions. Maintain a navigation log with leg distances, speeds, times, fuel, and relevant checkpoints. An all-cruise model is useful for illustrating arithmetic but is not a substitute for an actual transport flight's phase-by-phase data.

For a simplified two-leg exercise, leg one is 300 NM at a supplied 400-kt groundspeed, and leg two is 200 NM at 360 kt:

• Leg one: 300 / 400 = 0.75 hour = 45 minutes.
• Leg two: 200 / 360 ≈ 0.5556 hour = 33 minutes 20 seconds.
• Total: 1.3056 hours ≈ 78 minutes 20 seconds.

With a supplied constant fuel rate of 4,000 lb/hour for this simplified model, trip fuel is about 5,222 lb. If an approved exercise input instead supplies separate climb/cruise/descent quantities, sum those quantities on their stated basis; do not apply the constant rate as an extra duplicate component.

Suppose the required most-distant-alternate burn is 1,500 lb, ordinary domestic 45-minute cruise reserve is 3,000 lb, and discretionary fuel is 800 lb. Minimum takeoff fuel for the supplied model is approximately 10,522 lb. A 400-lb taxi allowance gives approximately 10,922 lb ramp fuel. Apply any required rounding rule conservatively; using whole pounds here gives 10,923 if rounding each total upward. State the rounding method rather than silently altering the selected answer.

Weight, balance, and performance

Assume dry operating weight of 80,000 lb and payload of 25,000 lb. Zero-fuel weight is 105,000 lb. With the unrounded teaching-model takeoff fuel, takeoff weight is about 115,522 lb; destination landing weight after 5,222-lb trip burn is about 110,300 lb. Check all these values against the supplied structural and performance limits. The fuel result alone does not establish legality.

Calculate moments and CG for the actual load and fuel distributions, then compare with the applicable envelopes and obtain takeoff trim from the approved aircraft mapping. Check runway declared distances, takeoff/climb obstacles, landing limits/conditions, engine-out enroute terrain, and any required oxygen/ETOPS analysis. A proposed payload can fit MZFW while exceeding a runway performance limit, and an acceptable total weight can still be outside the CG envelope.

Briefing and authorization

Give the PIC a concise decision-oriented briefing: operating category and route; significant weather and airport constraints; destination/alternate logic; fuel components and margins; weight/performance limits; defects and procedures; ATC delay/reroute information; and contingency triggers. State assumptions and uncertainties. Offer a clear recommendation and obtain the required concurrence.

Prepare the flight plan, load manifest, takeoff information, and dispatch release with the required fields, weather attachment, and signatures under the applicable rules. Verify that the ATC filing, crew copy, and dispatch record describe the same current plan. A document generated before a changed fuel uplift or runway selection can be obsolete even if its aircraft registration remains correct.

Flight watch and amendments

Compare actual position, time, fuel, weather, and aircraft status with the plan. Provide additional available safety information to the PIC under § 121.601. If ATC changes the route or weather affects a required alternate, calculate the consequence and make the applicable authorized amendment with PIC coordination. Do not wait for the original destination to become unusable before assessing a deteriorating trend and reachable alternatives.

A new system failure requires the crew's approved abnormal procedure and a revised capability assessment. Dispatch supplies terrain, airport, weather, fuel, and rescue support. If responsibility changes at shift or jurisdiction handover, verify that a qualified dispatcher owns each active flight and understands its pending decisions. Keep the final release and communication record identifiable.

Arrival verification and communication

Postflight begins by verifying actual arrival, including a diversion airport if used. An automated message can fail; confirm arrival through an approved alternate communication method when needed. Record the actual airport/time and any operational status relevant to the next flight. Do not mark completion solely because the original ETA has passed.

The arrival message and follow-up information should satisfy the carrier's procedure and reach the appropriate operations/station personnel. Communicate significant weather differences, fuel discrepancies, system issues, and irregularities to the proper team. A weather debrief improves the next dispatch decision but does not authorize rewriting the earlier source forecast as if the outcome had been known before departure.

Documents and irregularity reports

Close and retain the load manifest, dispatch/flight release, flight plan, weather documents, amendments, and required communication/irregularity records under their applicable requirements. Domestic/flag § 121.695 and supplemental § 121.697 have different document lists and disposition details. Both include the relevant three-month record retention requirement; hazardous-material documents have their separate § 175.33 rules.

If an event triggers a FAA emergency-deviation report or NTSB notification/report, handle that process on its own clock. Normal arrival closeout does not postpone immediate notification. Preserve pertinent records and send accurate information through the authorized channels. The practical exercise is complete only after explaining arrival verification, information handoff, document disposition, and any further reporting responsibility.

Official References

Source check: 2026-10-12. FAA dispatcher PTS; Part 65 Appendix A syllabus; Part 121 operational rules and records. For operational use, apply current issued authorizations and the assigned aircraft’s approved data.