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4 Answers

ATP XC definition and scenario questions

Asked by: 2189 views General Aviation

Here's two scenarios.

Depart ABC airport, fly to SANTA waypoint (50 nm), and fly back to ABC airport.

Can I log the entire flight as ATP XC?

 

Depart ABC airport, fly to SANTA waypoint (50 nm), and fly from SANTA to XYZ airport (60 nm) . XYZ is 5 nm of ABC.

I can log ABC-SANTA, but can I log SANTA-XYZ (total of 60 nm)?

If you answered "yes" to the first question, but "no" to the second, what's the difference in the returning flight?

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4 Answers



  1. KDS on Oct 04, 2017

    Use this link:

    https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/agc/pol_adjudication/agc200/Interpretations/?year=all&q=cross+country&bSubmit=Search

    It will take you to a laundry list of legal interpretations from the FAA regarding cross country. I’m sure your answer will be in there. As an added benefit, if you read all of that you will become the subject matter expert for your area.

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  2. Mark Kolber on Oct 04, 2017

    What in the wording of the regulation (what it says, not what you think it says) leads you to think they are the same or different?

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  3. QOL on Oct 04, 2017

    Mark, this is my confusion. Let’s forget the second scenario since the answer to the first scenario can answer the second.

    ATP XC time must be a “straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles FROM the original point of departure.” I just want to verify that the definition for “point of departure” includes something like a waypoint, since there is no official FAA definition. One could argue SANTA doesn’t qualify as the original PoD since it’s not an airport from which you took off.

    Other XC definitions require a landing at an airport >50nm. You can then take off from the new PoD and fly >50nm FROM the PoD. These are essentially 2 different flights with 2 different PoD and PoL.

    Do the regs imply that you can log the time back TO the original point of departure? Or do the regs imply that a waypoint like SANTA is a PoD? If the answer to either of those is yes, then there is no problem.

    At the end of the day, I just want to know if I can safely log the entire flight as ATP XC without getting questioned by a potential employer or the FAA. Thank you.

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  4. Best Answer


    Mark Kolber on Oct 05, 2017

    How did you manage to take off from a waypoint? I think I’m more confused than you!

    Oh! The third paragraph of your reply indicates you are thinking in a “normal” situation, the FAA considers KDEP – K1ST – K2ND – KDEP to be 3 flights? It doesn’t. The FAA recognizes people need to stop for fuel, go to the bathroom, divert for weather, even stay somewhere overnight between original point of departure and ultimate destination. In that example so long as either K1ST =or= K2ND is >50nm from KDEP, it is all one countable cross country flight, even if each individual leg is smaller than 50nm. The typical training round robin cross country is countable as one flight, no matter how many landings are made along the way so long as at least one of them is >50nm from home base.

    So in your second example, ABC – SANTA – XYZ it is all one single cross country flight countable for the ATP, with one qualification. SANTA has to be “more than” 50nm from ABC not just equal to 50nm.

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