How to Complete and File an ICAO Flight Plan Form

To file an ICAO flight plan, complete FAA Form 7233-4 by entering your aircraft identification, flight rules, aircraft type and wake category, departure and destination aerodromes, route with a properly formatted speed and altitude group, equipment and surveillance codes, and the matching detail prefixes in Item 18, then submit it to Flight Service at least 30 minutes before your proposed departure. The format has been mandatory for virtually all civil IFR flight plans in the United States since June 5, 2017, and it feeds automated ATC systems the precise equipment, route, and performance data they use to build your clearance.

Who Has to Use the ICAO Form

In the United States, FAA Form 7233-4 is required for all civilian IFR flights. Two narrow categories may still use the older domestic form: Department of Defense flight plans and civilian stereo route flight plans.¹ VFR flight plans filed through Flight Service also use the ICAO format.

You must use the ICAO form when your flight leaves U.S. domestic airspace, when you want RNAV SIDs, STARs, or other Performance Based Navigation routing assigned, when you’ll operate in RVSM airspace between FL290 and FL410, or when you need to communicate ADS-B surveillance capability.²³ Controllers issue clearances based on what you file in Items 10 and 18, so omitting a capability you actually have can cost you the route or altitude you want.

Aircraft ID, Flight Rules, and Type: Items 7 Through 9

Item 7 is your aircraft identification, up to seven characters. For most pilots that’s the registration number, such as N12345, or an assigned airline callsign. Anything longer will be rejected.

Item 8 uses one or two characters. The first is your flight rule: I for instrument, V for visual, Y for IFR changing to VFR, or Z for VFR changing to IFR. The second is the type of flight, most often G for general aviation or S for scheduled service.⁴

Item 9 pairs the ICAO aircraft type designator from ICAO Doc 8643 with your wake turbulence category. Wake category drives the separation ATC applies behind you:

L (Light): maximum takeoff mass of 7,000 kg (15,500 lb) or less.
M (Medium): more than 7,000 kg but less than 136,000 kg (300,000 lb).
H (Heavy): 136,000 kg (300,000 lb) or more.
J (Super): specifically designated types, such as the A380.

Most general aviation singles and light twins are L. Turboprops and light jets can sit closer to a boundary, so check the aircraft’s actual maximum takeoff mass rather than guessing.⁴

Departure, Route, and Destination: Items 13, 15, and 16

Item 13 holds the four-letter ICAO identifier of your departure aerodrome and the Estimated Off-Block Time in UTC, four digits for hours and minutes. Item 16 holds the destination aerodrome identifier, estimated elapsed time to destination, and up to two alternates.⁴

Item 15 combines cruising speed, altitude, and route into one continuous string, and the format is strict. Speed in knots is N followed by four digits (N0150 for 150 knots). A Mach number is M followed by three digits (M082 for Mach 0.82). Altitude as a flight level is F plus three digits (F350 for FL350). Altitude in hundreds of feet below the minimum applicable flight level is A plus three digits (A045 for 4,500 feet).³

The route follows the speed/altitude group as a sequence of waypoints, airways, and direct segments. Use DCT between fixes for direct routing, and enter airway designators such as J174, V16, or T310 when flying published airways. If your speed or altitude changes mid-route, insert a new speed/altitude group at the change point. A typical Item 15 entry might read: N0440F310 SSOXS5 SSOXS DCT BUZRD DCT SEY J174 ORF J121 CHS LUNNI1.³

Equipment and Surveillance: Item 10

Item 10 is where most filing errors happen, and it is the item ATC weighs most heavily. It has two halves separated by a slash: communication and navigation equipment on the left, surveillance equipment on the right.

Communication and Navigation (10a)

S means the standard package of VHF radio, VOR, and ILS, and if you file S you do not need to list those individually. G means GNSS. R means the aircraft is approved for Performance Based Navigation and tells ATC to look in Item 18 for the specific PBN approvals.⁴ W indicates RVSM approval.³ A well-equipped GA aircraft with GPS, VOR, ILS, and RVSM approval might file SRG W. File every capability for which the aircraft and crew are certified, capable, and authorized.²

Surveillance (10b)

After the slash, list transponder and ADS-B capability:

A: Mode A transponder only (4-digit squawk codes).
C: Mode A and altitude-reporting Mode C.
E: Mode S transponder with aircraft ID, pressure altitude, and ADS-B Out via Extended Squitter on 1090 MHz.
L: same as E, plus enhanced surveillance capability.

Most GA aircraft with a Mode C transponder and no ADS-B Out file just C. An aircraft with 1090 MHz ADS-B Out files E or L.⁴

Item 18: The Detail Behind Item 10

Item 18 is a free-text field with specific prefixes. Several appear on nearly every flight plan:

PBN/: required whenever R appears in Item 10a. List the specific PBN approval codes, for example PBN/A1B2C2D2S1S2.⁴
SUR/: expands on Item 10b. SUR/260B indicates compliance with 14 CFR 91.227 on 1090 MHz. UAT-equipped aircraft use codes like U1 or U2.³
NAV/: GNSS augmentation type when G is filed, for example NAV/SBAS.⁴
DOF/: date of flight in YYMMDD when departure is not today.⁵
EET/: estimated elapsed time to a specific fix or Flight Information Region boundary, four digits.⁴
CODE/: the aircraft’s 24-bit ICAO address in hexadecimal, required when filing ADS-B.³

Consistency between Item 10 and Item 18 is where the system catches mistakes. File R in 10a but forget the PBN/ entry and the plan will be rejected. The same happens with ADS-B codes in 10b that lack matching SUR/ and CODE/ entries.⁶

Item 19: What Search and Rescue Will See

Item 19 is not routing data. It’s what search and rescue crews use if something goes wrong.

E/ Endurance: total fuel as four digits of hours and minutes (E/0430 for four hours thirty minutes).
P/ Persons on board, including crew. Enter TBN if the count is not yet known.
R/ Emergency radio: UHF (243.0 MHz), VHF (121.5 MHz), and Emergency Locator Transmitter.
S/ Survival equipment carried: polar, desert, maritime, jungle.
J/ Life jackets: lights, fluorescent dye, radio.
D/ Dinghies: number, total capacity, covered or not, color.
A/ Aircraft color and markings.
C/ Pilot-in-command’s full name.

On paper forms, these fields work by crossing out capabilities you don’t have rather than checking off capabilities you do, which trips people up the first time they see the form.⁴

When and How to File

File IFR flight plans at least 30 minutes before proposed departure. Waiting until the last minute risks a delay in receiving your clearance. For nonscheduled IFR operations above FL230, the FAA requests voluntary filing at least four hours ahead so traffic management can plan strategically.²

Three filing channels are available. Online portals and electronic flight bag apps such as ForeFlight, Garmin Pilot, and the FAA’s 1800wxbrief.com walk you through each field and transmit the plan electronically; this is the most common method in general aviation. Telephone filing goes directly to a Flight Service briefer.¹ Once airborne, you can file or amend by radio with ATC, though traffic saturation sometimes prevents controllers from accepting plans that way.²

A filed plan doesn’t sit indefinitely. If you don’t depart, most ATC centers delete the plan roughly two hours after your proposed departure time.⁷ One important boundary for VFR: filing does not activate the plan. You must contact Flight Service separately to open it, either by radio after takeoff or by phone before departure. Control towers do not activate VFR plans for you.

Acknowledgment and Rejection Messages

After submission of an IFR plan, the responsible Air Route Traffic Control Center sends back an ACK (acknowledgment) or REJ (rejection) message. The ACK confirms the plan is on file and returns your aircraft ID, departure aerodrome, proposed time, and destination. A REJ includes a specific error code and the text of your original submission.⁸

Common rejection causes include an aircraft ID longer than seven characters, inconsistencies between Item 10 and Item 18 (such as filing R without a PBN/ entry), and formatting errors in the Item 15 speed/altitude group.⁸ EFB apps catch most formatting errors before submission, but they can’t verify that your PBN codes actually match the aircraft’s certification, so that particular mismatch still slips through regularly.

Delays, Amendments, and Cancellations

Plans rarely survive first contact with reality. If departure will be delayed, send a DLA (delay) message updating the proposed departure time. If the route, altitude, or destination changes, send a CHG (change) message. Both require the system to match the amendment to your original plan. If you filed with an optional message number in Field 3b, any CHG or DLA must reference it, or the system may reject the amendment when multiple plans exist under the same aircraft ID.⁸

To cancel, send a CNL message and wait for acknowledgment. If you need to cancel more than 45 minutes before proposed departure, you can send the cancellation, wait for the ACK, and refile a new plan if needed. If the response comes back “REJECT — MANUAL COORDINATION REQUIRED,” the system has locked the plan and you need to call Flight Data at the responsible ARTCC to have it removed manually.⁹

Closing the Plan After Landing

After landing, you are required to close the flight plan by notifying Flight Service or an ATC facility. This applies to VFR plans¹⁰ and to IFR plans when you cancel IFR or complete the flight.¹¹

Skip this step and search and rescue procedures begin automatically, typically 30 minutes after your estimated time of arrival.¹² That means search aircraft, calls to airports along your route, and potentially a bill for resources deployed. IFR plans at towered fields generally close automatically when the tower sees you land, but at non-towered airports you close the plan yourself. Build it into your shutdown checklist.

Filing an Alternate in Item 16

For IFR flights, filing at least one alternate aerodrome in Item 16 is mandatory unless the destination weather meets specific minimums. You can skip the alternate when a published instrument approach exists at the destination and the forecast shows a ceiling of at least 2,000 feet above field elevation and visibility of at least 3 statute miles for the period from one hour before to one hour after your estimated arrival. For helicopters, the threshold is a ceiling of 1,000 feet above field elevation (or 400 feet above the lowest approach minimum, whichever is higher) and 2 statute miles visibility.¹¹

The alternate itself must meet weather minimums. For a precision approach, the forecast at the alternate must show at least a 600-foot ceiling and 2 statute miles visibility. For a non-precision approach, 800-foot ceiling and 2 statute miles. If the alternate has no published approach, the weather must allow descent from the minimum en route altitude and landing under basic VFR conditions.¹¹

1
Federal Aviation Administration. FAA Flight Planning Information
2
Federal Aviation Administration. Chapter 5 Air Traffic Procedures
3
Federal Aviation Administration. FAA ICAO Flight Plan Quick Guide 2022
4
Federal Aviation Administration. Appendix A ICAO Flight Plans
5
Federal Aviation Administration. Flight Plan Guide
6
International Civil Aviation Organization. Asia/Pacific Guidance Material for Amendment 1 to the 15th Edition of PANS-ATM (Doc 4444)
7
Federal Aviation Administration. ENR 1.10 Flight Planning
8
Federal Aviation Administration. Acceptance/Rejection of Domestic ICAO Messages
9
Federal Aviation Administration. Flight Plan Discrepancies and Amendment Filing Procedures
10
eCFR. 14 CFR 91.153 VFR Flight Plan Information Required
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eCFR. 14 CFR 91.169 IFR Flight Plan Information Required
12
Federal Aviation Administration. Emergency Procedures – Emergency Services Available to Pilots