IFR chart changes more involved than FAA expressed

IFR chart changes more involved than FAA expressed

By AOPA ePublishing staff

The FAA's new series of IFR low altitude en route charts that were published on Oct. 25 have more changes than the agency first described to AOPA and the pilot community.

"Initially, the FAA told us that the only change was to increase the number of charts from 28 to 36 to provide better chart readability and resolution for pilots," said Heidi Williams, AOPA director of air traffic services. "But the day after the new charts came out, pilots started calling AOPA about unexpected changes they were finding on their new charts.

"AOPA immediately contacted the FAA to clarify the change details and reminded the agency that it should have given pilots a heads up on the changes that were coming."

The air/ground communication tabulations that were on the old charts have been omitted to save space, according to the FAA. However, the airport look-up table is still published on the new charts. Some air/ground communication information is printed on the face of the en route charts, and additional information is available on instrument flight procedures charts and the supplemental communication reference section of the Airport/Facility Directory.

Some navigation details on the L-21 en route low altitude chart covering the Gulf of Mexico were omitted to reduce chart clutter. Only the details over land were left off, and the FAA cautions pilots that the L-21 chart should only be used for offshore flights in the Gulf. Other en route charts (L-19/L-20, L-22, and L-23/L-24) provided navigation information for the land joining the Gulf of Mexico.

For more details, see the FAA's charting notice.

November 1, 2007