METAR

it is not below standard landing minimums in addition to the company Operatrion specifications. If the airport goes below minimums while the plane is en route, the pilot might have to divert to an alternate airport. When making a flight plan dispatcher should plan for such an event, and pilots will be well aware of the plans if something like this would happen. When making a flight plan dispatchers refer to many different resources availble to them. These are weather reports and charts given: * The METAR is an Aviation Routine Weather Report. It comes in both textual and graphical format and shows the current conditions of the airport. It also includes things like cloud cover, wind, precipitation, and temperatures. Issued every hour or when Weather changes. * The TAF is a Terminal Aerodrome Forecast. Available in textual format and describes the current and expected conditions with in a 5 mile radius of an airport. It has almost the same information as the METAR. It’s issued every 6 six hours, and covers 24 hrs of expected weather. Most of the time used to see whats expected at another airport upon landing. * The FA is an area forecast chart, that comes in a textual format, issued 3 times a day and valid for 18 hours. Covers an area the size of several states, and includes reports of visibility, clouds, mountain obscuration, and VFR or IFR conditions. * The SIGWX are Prognostic charts available in graphical format. Issued very 12 hours available for 24…

briefing from the FSS or by accessing the user terminal (NTSB 911AA Eurocopter, 2014). The sources the pilot used to check the weather prior to the mission are unknown. The current relief pilot uses the National Weather Service, and Alaska Aviation Weather Unit (AAWU) websites (NTSB 911AA Eurocopter, 2014). The AAWU displays weather information for pilots, including area forecasts, meteorological aerodrome reports, and terminal aerodrome forecasts. The forecasted weather for the search…