We have received reports recently from airport operators and NAV CANADA that there have been some searches initiated for aircraft that did not actually fly and our research indicates that there may be some confusion regarding how and when flight plans are automatically activated, so here is a primer on how NAV CANADA handles opening and closing VFR flight plans.
NAV CANADA has been “automatically” opening flight plans on the filed proposed departure time for the past six years at aerodromes where there are no NAV CANADA FSS or tower. If you decide not to fly and do not contact NAV CANADA to cancel the flight plan, the flight plan will be activated.
Upon expiration of the estimated time enroute plus the SAR time (normally one hour) that you filed, a communications search will be initiated, a phone call will be made to the contact number that you filed, the DND rescue coordination centre will be alerted to a possible search and then people will be contacted at the departure and arrival airport to physically check for the aircraft. If the communications search comes up empty, the SAR folks will start looking for you.
One hour after the time you should have landed SAR will get started looking for you, so it is very easy to initiate a SAR response without ever leaving the ground.
The key to preventing unnecessary searches is to call NAV CANADA to cancel the flight plan as soon as you cancel the flight!
Many pilots will file two or more flight plans at the same time – one for each leg that they plan on a longer, multi-leg flight. This is a good thing to do because if you do not make it to the first destination on your trip, SAR will be put into action sooner and concentrate only on that portion of your trip.
But there is the potential for triggering SAR with multiple flight plans. If you decide to cancel the whole trip and do not specifically tell NAV CANADA that you have more than one flight plan, the second and subsequent flight plans may be activated on the proposed take off times.
NAV CANADA does not offer the option of opening flight plans only when they are asked to do so via radio because an aircraft that departs with the intention of contacting NAV CANADA at some point, but crashes prior to that point, would have no alerting service in place.
Upon arrival at your destination, it is important to ensure that your flight plan is closed. If you arrive at an airport that has an FSS or control tower, do not assume that NAV CANADA will close the flight plan.
Make it part of your routine to ask if it has been closed. If you are not confident that you will be able to contact NAV CANADA by the estimated time enroute expires, for example, when it will take some time after landing to get to a phone, you should extend your estimated time enroute.
Keeping these points in mind will help preserve the SAR resources for when they are actually needed.