If you have less than zero pounds of spare fuel, your flight plan is considered illegal and must be changed.

If you have less than zero pounds of spare fuel, your flight plan is considered illegal and must be changed.

• A. Illegal
• B. Valid
• C. Unacceptable but fixable
• D. Cannot determine

Answer: (A)

The key idea is fuel planning and minimum reserves. Spare fuel is the extra amount beyond what you need to complete the flight with the required reserves. If that value is negative, it means your plan does not provide enough fuel to meet those minimums. In aviation terms, that makes the flight plan illegal because you wouldn’t have enough fuel to reach your destination (and any alternates or reserves) as required. To make it legal, you must modify the plan to increase fuel (or adjust routing/destination) so that there is non-negative and adequate reserve fuel. So the plan is illegal and must be changed.

The key idea is fuel planning and minimum reserves. Spare fuel is the extra amount beyond what you need to complete the flight with the required reserves. If that value is negative, it means your plan does not provide enough fuel to meet those minimums. In aviation terms, that makes the flight plan illegal because you wouldn’t have enough fuel to reach your destination (and any alternates or reserves) as required. To make it legal, you must modify the plan to increase fuel (or adjust routing/destination) so that there is non-negative and adequate reserve fuel.

So the plan is illegal and must be changed.