What specific items does FAR 91.103 require for cross-country flights?

For any flight not in the vicinity of an airport, 91.103 requires checking weather reports and forecasts, fuel requirements, alternatives if the flight cannot be completed, known ATC traffic delays, and runway lengths at airports of intended use.

Does FAR 91.103 apply to local flights in the traffic pattern?

Yes, the general requirement to become familiar with "all available information" applies to every flight. However, the specific checklist items (weather, fuel, alternatives, delays, runway lengths) are triggered for flights beyond the vicinity of the airport and all IFR flights.

What happens if I violate FAR 91.103?

While no specific penalty is listed in the regulation itself, the FAA uses 91.103 as a catch-all in enforcement actions. If an incident reveals you failed to review available information — such as missing a published TFR or not calculating fuel — the FAA can cite 91.103, which may result in certificate action.

How long should preflight planning take under FAR 91.103?

For a typical cross-country flight, a thorough preflight information review takes roughly 15 to 20 minutes once you've built the habit. This includes checking weather, NOTAMs, calculating fuel and performance, and verifying aircraft status.

Does checking weather on my phone count as complying with 91.103?

The regulation requires becoming familiar with all available information, regardless of the source. Using an aviation weather app or official briefing service on your phone can satisfy the requirement, as long as you're reviewing METARs, TAFs, NOTAMs, winds aloft, and other relevant data — not just glancing at a general forecast.

FAR ninety-one dot one oh three and the preflight action requirement that covers everything you forgot to look up

FAR 91.103 is one of the shortest regulations in aviation, but it may be the most powerful. It requires every pilot in command to “become familiar with all available information concerning that flight” before departure. That single phrase — all available information — is deliberately broad, and understanding what it covers is essential for safe flying and checkride success.

What Does FAR 91.103 Actually Say?

The regulation has two distinct parts, and most pilots only remember the first one.

Part one is the general requirement: become familiar with all available information concerning that flight. For local flights — pattern work at your home airport on a clear day — the FAA isn’t expecting you to pull out every chart supplement in the region. But they are expecting you to know the weather, NOTAMs, runway conditions, and aircraft status. Reasonable information for a reasonable flight.

Part two gets specific. For any flight not in the vicinity of an airport and for any IFR flight, the regulation requires you to check:

Weather reports and forecasts
Fuel requirements
Alternatives available if the planned flight cannot be completed
Known traffic delays advised by ATC (flow restrictions)
Runway lengths at airports of intended use

When Does the Full Requirement Kick In?

The phrase “not in the vicinity of an airport” does a lot of heavy lifting. The moment you leave the traffic pattern and head somewhere — even 20 miles away for a quick flight to the next field — you’ve triggered the full requirement. Weather reports and forecasts, fuel requirements, alternatives, all of it.

Consider this scenario: you’re planning a flight to an airport 60 nautical miles away. Beautiful day. You’ve flown there a dozen times. You jump in and go. What did you miss? Maybe that airport closed its only runway for construction yesterday. Maybe there’s a 30-knot headwind at your altitude that turns a 40-minute flight into a fuel question. Maybe the TAF shows thunderstorms building in two hours, right when you planned to arrive.

What Does “All Available Information” Look Like in Practice?

For a cross-country flight, here’s what a thorough preflight information review covers:

Weather: Current METARs for departure, destination, and alternate. TAFs for the same airports. Area forecast or Graphical Forecast for Aviation (GFA). Winds and temperatures aloft for groundspeed planning. AIRMETs and SIGMETs along your route. PIREPs, because those tell you what the forecast got wrong.

NOTAMs: Check Notices to Air Missions for your departure airport, destination, every airport along your route you might need as an alternate, and any navigational aids you plan to use. A VOR out of service 20 miles off your route might not matter, but the one you planned as your primary navigation fix absolutely matters.

Fuel calculation: FAR 91.151 requires enough fuel to reach your first point of intended landing, plus 30 minutes reserve during the day or 45 minutes at night at normal cruise speed. But 91.103 asks something bigger — whether you actually calculated fuel burn at your planned power setting, applied forecast winds, added reserves, and confirmed the numbers work. Not in your head. On paper or on a tablet.

Takeoff and landing distance: The regulation says you need to consider runway lengths at airports of intended use. The Airman Certification Standards expect you to calculate takeoff and landing distances using your POH performance charts, factoring in temperature, pressure altitude, wind, runway surface, and weight.

Aircraft status: Are inspections current? Annual? Transponder check? Any applicable airworthiness directives? Anything deferred? For most Part 91 GA flying without a formal MEL, a broken item sends you back to FAR 91.213.

Why Runway Length Calculations Matter More Than You Think

Picture this: you’re flying to a small airport with a 3,000-foot runway. Your Cessna 172 handles that easily at sea level on a cool day. But today it’s July. The airport elevation is 4,000 feet. The temperature is 35°C. You pull out the takeoff distance chart and discover you need 2,400 feet to clear a 50-foot obstacle. That 3,000-foot runway still works, but the margin just got much thinner. If there are trees at the departure end, you need to know that before you go — not on the takeoff roll.

How the FAA Uses 91.103 in Enforcement

FAR 91.103 has no specific penalty listed. But here’s how the FAA uses it: if something goes wrong and the investigation reveals you didn’t check NOTAMs and missed a TFR, or didn’t calculate fuel and ran the tanks dry, the FAA will cite 91.103. It becomes the catch-all — the regulation that says you should have known because the information was available.

Enforcement cases have been built entirely on 91.103. A pilot flies into a temporary flight restriction published 12 hours before the flight. The pilot never checked. That’s a textbook 91.103 violation, and it comes with certificate action.

Build a Preflight Information Checklist

Not the walk-around — the planning checklist you go through before you drive to the airport:

Weather: METARs, TAFs, winds aloft, AIRMETs, SIGMETs, PIREPs
NOTAMs for departure, destination, alternates, and en route navaids
Fuel calculation with winds applied and reserves confirmed
Takeoff and landing distance for the day’s conditions
Weight and balance for your actual load
Chart Supplement entry for unfamiliar airports
TFRs along your route
Aircraft status and inspection currency

Once you build the habit, this takes 15 to 20 minutes. That’s the difference between a pilot who is prepared and one who is hoping nothing goes wrong.

Where the Checkride Gets Tricky

The examiner might ask, “What does 91.103 require?” If you answer with just weather and NOTAMs, expect a follow-up: “What else?” Many students freeze because they forgot about fuel requirements, alternatives, known traffic delays, and runway lengths. Know all five specific items the regulation lists for cross-country and IFR flights.

Key Takeaways

FAR 91.103 requires familiarity with “all available information” before every flight — the FAA intentionally cast a wide net
Leaving the traffic pattern triggers the full requirement, including weather, fuel, alternatives, traffic delays, and runway lengths
The regulation is the FAA’s catch-all enforcement tool — if information was available and you didn’t look it up, expect a citation when something goes wrong
Build a preflight planning checklist separate from your walk-around to make compliance a 15-minute habit
Think of 91.103 as a mindset, not a checkbox — if you can explain every preflight decision you made, you’ll never have a problem with this regulation

Reference: 14 CFR §91.103; FAA Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, Chapter 17.