Since late August 2019, the ICAO flight plan form is required for all filed flight plans, both VFR and IFR, in domestic airspace. Interacting with fellow pilots, there still seems to be some confusion on the equipment codes, which are perhaps the most confusing part. Let’s dig deeper.
Equipment Codes: Item 10
Specifically, on the form there’s Item 10 Equipment and Item 18 Other Information. Item 10 has two parts: avionics and surveillance capability. What makes the codes confusing is that unlike the older domestic flight plan form that used installed equipment, the ICAO flight plan goes a step further. The codes not only could refer to installed equipment (e.g., “D” for DME), but also capability (“B” for LPV) and approvals (“W” for RVSM Approved-reduced vertical separation minima, above FL290) and at times, combinations such as “Y” for VHF with 8.33 kHz channel spacing capability. Got that?