Missing flight plans

Screaming_Emu

Screaming_Emu

Joe Conventional
I have a quick question about something that has happened to me a few times, including the other day on my CFII checkride.

I called and filed an IFR flight plan, but upon calling to recieve my clearance they couldn't find it. So my question is, where exactly did it go? Thankfully ATC was very helpful and got a new clearance/flight plan set up for me after a few minutes, but I'm still curious.
 
On my CFII ride, they also lost the plan. This was out of Madison County, Alabama and Hunstville Approach was not amused. If you fly in the ADIZ, get ready for missing flight plans out the wazoo.

I've had a lot of success using DUAT, but flight service seems to find ways to lose them with much more frequency. Even with DUAT, I've had the local approach not be able to find the plan when I know I filed it and even had printed proof.


Mike
 
ATC RET 2003 said:
Hmmm... I wonder if it has anything to do with the recent contracting out of the Flight Service Stations??
Click to expand...

Gimme a break. Over half the employees at those newly contracted FSS are former FAA people. Same with contract towers. Retired FAA. Ex Military. Etc, etc. Contract facilities do the same job for less money. Quit trying to scare people with that NATCA nonsense.

It happens all the time with ADIZ clearances for some reason. Could have also timed out. They only stay in the system for two hours past your P-time unless they go active. DUAT is a really good way to go and it's much more immediate. When you call it in, someone then has to type it in and they could have simply set it on the counter and got wrapped up in something else. It happens, unfortunately.
 
The only plans that have been lost for me filing through DUAT were IFR plans out of Millville that Atlantic City Approach could not find. This has happened to me twice.

If you use DUAT to file ADIZ plans, you just have to be careful about the two entry points to the north that fall in New York Center's space.

Mike
 
Van_Hoolio said:
On my CFII ride, they also lost the plan. This was out of Madison County, Alabama and Hunstville Approach was not amused. If you fly in the ADIZ, get ready for missing flight plans out the wazoo.

I've had a lot of success using DUAT, but flight service seems to find ways to lose them with much more frequency. Even with DUAT, I've had the local approach not be able to find the plan when I know I filed it and even had printed proof.


Mike
Click to expand...

They lost mine too. Clyde was great about it though.
 
I file anywhere between 100 and 200 a day and we have several get lost each day. Never been able to pinpoint why, but I figure that if out of the hundred that I file, if only one or two shows up missing that is still an A in my book. Also, as an afterthought, I know at night some centers go "dark", so If you file a plan at 11pm and call for it at 6am you will occasionally have problems.
 
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