PLT380: Alternate Airport Weather Minima
What code PLT380 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Alternate Airport Weather Minima before your checkride.
Recall regulations - alternate airport weather minima
What this means for your checkride
No person may list an alternate airport in an IFR flight plan unless weather reports or forecasts indicate the ceiling and visibility at that airport will meet the required minima at the estimated time of arrival. When the alternate has no published instrument approach, the ceiling and visibility must allow descent, approach, and landing under basic VFR.
It sets the standard for judging whether a chosen alternate is legally usable.
The destination arrival forecast and the alternate minima are separate tests; meeting one does not satisfy the other.
Where to study it
A code on your test report is an area of deficiency. An authorized instructor must review it with you and endorse that review before you take the practical test, and the examiner may revisit it during the oral. Study it until you can explain it out loud, not just recognize the answer.