Section 3. Flight Plan Count
The first FAA station which receives a flight plan, a Special VFR clearance request, or a flight plan change en route (regardless of source: e.g., pilot or his/her representative, foreign location, military operations office, state aeronautical communications station, air carrier, etc.) must take one count for each one received except:
- Do not count flight plans received from or relayed by means of an automatic or semi-automatic installation even though the station is the first FAA station to receive same.
- Do not count minor changes, such as cancellations, closures, or amendments, that do not change the destination. The change must result in the transmission of a flight notification message to be countable.
- Do not count prefiled flight plans unless the operator has requested activation.
Flight plans are to be counted without regard to the elapsed time or the distance of the flight or the fact that the flight terminates at the same place from which it departed.
A flight plan change en route to be countable must be a plan which is substantially modified or extended, such as a route or destination change, and the aircraft continues on a flight plan. The change must result in the transmission of a flight notification message to be countable.
Use FAA Forms 7233-1 (DoD only) or 7233-4, as appropriate, to record flight plans copied by specialists.