Hope is not a strategy
When your destination airport goes out the window, where will you land?
Weather: The sky was clear at your destination when you checked this morning, but clouds have since rolled in. Or crosswinds are stronger than you think you can handle. Or stronger-than-forecast headwinds have cut into your fuel reserves.
Engine malfunction: High oil temperature? High cylinder head temperatures? Low oil pressure? Low fuel pressure? Time to get on the ground.
Passenger is unwell: You can carry an airsickness bag for emergencies, but sometimes one just won’t cut it.
Closed runway at your destination, and no other runway is available. (Of course you checked notices to airmen, but sometimes runways can be closed without advance notice, such as if a retractable-gear airplane has a gear-up landing.)
Fuel: You thought you correctly calculated enough fuel to get you, your family, and your bags to that beachside airport, but an hour from your destination, the fuel gauges and your calculations are warning you that’s no longer the case.
Hunger/bathroom breaks for you or your passengers. Some pilots can work with relief bottles, but not all. And it’s not fair to ask your passengers to wrestle with one at 3,500 feet.
Fatigue or pilot illness, such as a headache that could signal the onset of carbon monoxide poisoning, or hypoxia if flying at high altitudes.
But after you pass your test, get your pilot certificate, and start flying on your own, diversion becomes a real possibility. Here are a few reasons why a pilot might decide to land at an airport other than the one originally planned.
Plan to divert
With a little advance planning, a diversion need not be a stressful event.
When choosing your destination, ask yourself, “Where will I go if I can’t land here?” Then choose (and name) that airport. Make it a part of your flight plan.
Also ask yourself, “Will I have enough fuel to get there if I need to divert?” Plan for that before taking off.
That airport isn’t your only option, of course. Instead of drawing a straight line from Point A to Point B, plan a route that goes over airports. The few extra nautical miles you fly to position yourself over these airports will cost only a little extra in Hobbs time and avgas, and the route will provide a great measure of comfort should you need to land at any of those airports.
Conquer the mission mindset
You’ve planned your route, you have diversion airports in place, and you’re aloft. Now you must conquer one final challenge when dealing with diversions: your brain.
Pilots are notoriously mission minded. Most of the time, that’s a good thing. They strive to create a plan, fly the plan, and complete the plan.
Now picture yourself flying along and beginning to notice conditions are deteriorating—the cloud ceiling is coming down, or your fuel calculation seems to suggest that a stop for avgas would be smart. But your mission-minded brain looks at the flight plan and says, “We only have 20 nautical miles to go. We’re almost there!”
It’s optimal to create, fly, and complete the plan, but sometimes plans need to change. Keep flexible and keep safe, and do not box yourself into a corner by rigidly adhering to a flight plan that is no longer working out for you.
Aviation writer Rod Machado suggests you look at it this way: Rather than think, “What do I lose if I don’t get there?” you should ask yourself, “What do I stand to lose if I keep going?”
Ask for help
You’re not alone up there. Air traffic control can help guide you to an airport, whether it’s because you’re lost, low on fuel, or seeking better weather.
On a summer-afternoon trip in 2017, I picked my way VFR through patches of rain in my Piper Cherokee. Visibility was still good—well, it was OK—and ceilings were manageable. I had a Stratus ADS-B receiver that displayed weather on my ForeFlight app.
I had just said goodbye to the Raleigh Approach controller who was giving me flight advisories, and trying to tune in Washington Center on the radio. I looked up and saw a rain shower in my path, and I couldn’t see through it. And there were showery, precipitous clumps all around me now.
I looked up and saw a rain shower in my path, and I couldn’t see through it. And there were showery, precipitous clumps all around me now.I did a one-eighty. The blessed Raleigh controller saw my radar track and called my N number. “Are you OK?”
“I am looking to find VFR weather,” I said, punching away at the Garmin 430. “I would like to land.” My initial thought was to backtrack to Raleigh Executive Airport, where I’d stopped and fueled up.
The controller told me Rocky Mount/Wilson Regional Airport, 10 nautical miles to the west, was showing VFR conditions. That sounded good to me. He gave me a heading while I plugged the new destination into the GPS, and stayed with me until I was within a few miles of the airport and dropped out of radar coverage. That air traffic controller was watching over one small blip on his screen to make sure she got to her diversion airport, and I will always be thankful.
When you have to get down
In rare instances, you might not be able to reach your destination airport, or even the nearest diversion. Here’s where a calmly executed off-airport landing could be the best option.
No pilot really wants to land off-airport (Alaska and backcountry pilots are excluded from this generalization). To land on a field or road under power, in control of the airplane, is infinitely preferable to trying to land off-airport without power, or while in instrument meteorological conditions.
When you plan a flight, plan for all the things that could happen. With strategies in place, you’ll know what to do when nature calls, or weather threatens, or fatigue sets in.
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