Hello Simmers i just wanna know whats a proper way or the procedure to divert to an airport that is not part of a flight plan? I was flying the PMDG747 and i was confused on how am i able to search for an airport for alternate. i would appreciate your help.Rajiv Murjani

As a rule of thumb, you should always have an alternate selected and others in mind and a wise instructor taught me the best time to head for the alternate is when you are still at cruise or at least above 10,000. I assume rules vary, but in the US an alternate is requied if the destination is expected to have less than 3 sm vis or 2000 ft ceilings +/- 1 hr of ETA. There are also wx mins for the alternate depending on if it has precision or non precision approaches. Also, any company flying the 744 is going to have very specific guidance on where to land their piece of expensive property.If you are asking how to divert using the 747 FMS then that is a different question.

Hello Simmers i just wanna know whats a proper way or the procedure to divert to an airport that is not part of a flight plan? I was flying the PMDG747 and i was confused on how am i able to search for an airport for alternate. i would appreciate your help.Rajiv Murjani

Hi Rajiv,First, before takeoff you must already have a list of possible alternates according to weather conditions and your aircraft runway length needs.The best way is to use the ROUTE 2 feature in the ROUTE page of the FMC.Enter into Route 2 and build a new route from your original airport to the new destination, entering as the first waypoint the point where you plan to start the diversion.Reach that diversion point in any standard manner (maybe heading mode) and then ACTivate your new route.With now ROUTE 2 as the active, you can follow it in any normal way (say LNAV).

thanks for the reply. yup i sure want to know how to use the FMS when diverting on alternate airport.what i meant was changing your alternate route and airport. for example im cruising and the choice of my alternate is not good and im going to use different airport which i found on my ND then where do i place it on the FMC. For ex on the MD-11 you can place your airport on the LAT REV , New destination page.thanksRajiv Murjani