Regulation Text
Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight. This information must include—
(a) For a flight under IFR or a flight not in the vicinity of an airport, weather reports and forecasts, fuel requirements, alternatives available if the planned flight cannot be completed, and any known traffic delays of which the pilot in command has been advised by ATC;
(b) For any flight, runway lengths at airports of intended use, and the following takeoff and landing distance information:
(1) For civil aircraft for which an approved Airplane or Rotorcraft Flight Manual containing takeoff and landing distance data is required, the takeoff and landing distance data contained therein; and
(2) For civil aircraft other than those specified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, other reliable information appropriate to the aircraft, relating to aircraft performance under expected values of airport elevation and runway slope, aircraft gross weight, and wind and temperature.
Research Notes
Section 91.103 — preflight action — is short, broad, and frequently cited in enforcement. It requires the PIC, before each flight, to become familiar with all available information concerning that flight. Two specific categories are called out by name, but the general obligation is far broader.
The 'all available information' standard: This phrase is the operational heart of the reg. The PIC must seek out and use all available information — weather, NOTAMs, fuel requirements, alternates, runway lengths, takeoff/landing performance, weight and balance, charts, frequencies. The FAA has used § 91.103 in enforcement against pilots who flew into known adverse weather, departed into TFRs, or operated with inadequate fuel — even when no other specific FAR was violated.
Paragraph (a) — IFR or not-in-vicinity-of-airport flights: Three specific items are required: (1) weather reports and forecasts; (2) fuel requirements; (3) alternatives available if the planned flight cannot be completed. The 'alternatives available' clause is the bedrock of go/no-go thinking — what's plan B?
Paragraph (b) — runway/takeoff data: For ANY flight, the PIC must be familiar with: (1) runway lengths at the airports of intended use; AND (2) takeoff and landing distance data from the AFM/POH considering altitude, slope, surface, wind, temperature, and weight. The FAA's expectation is that the PIC compute book-published distances for the actual conditions — not estimate or assume sea-level standard atmosphere.
Enforcement reality: 'Becoming familiar' is a verifiable act. Briefing materials, ATIS recordings, NOTAM printouts, flight plans, and EFB log data have all been used as evidence (or as the absence of evidence) in § 91.103 enforcement. The PIC who can't articulate what they checked before departure is the PIC most exposed.
Reference: AIM 5-1 on preflight planning. FAA-H-8083-25 (PHAK) Chapter 16 on aeronautical decision making.
NWKRAFT — The Mnemonic, Honestly
Walk into any flight school and someone will write NWKRAFT on the whiteboard as if it's § 91.103 itself. It's not. NWKRAFT is a useful memory aid that wraps § 91.103 inside a wider preflight habit — but if you can't tell what's literally in the reg and what's general PIC due diligence, you'll choke on it during a checkride.
Here's the honest breakdown:
| Letter | Stands for | Where it actually lives |
|---|---|---|
| N | NOTAMs | NOT literally in § 91.103 — falls under the "all available information" general clause. Required in practice; cited in enforcement. |
| W | Weather reports & forecasts | § 91.103(a) — explicit, for IFR or not-in-vicinity flights. |
| K | Known traffic delays (as advised by ATC) | § 91.103(a) — explicit, for IFR or not-in-vicinity flights. |
| R | Runway lengths at airports of intended use | § 91.103(b) preamble — explicit, applies to ANY flight. |
| A | Alternatives if the planned flight can't be completed | § 91.103(a) — explicit, for IFR or not-in-vicinity flights. |
| F | Fuel requirements | § 91.103(a) — explicit, for IFR or not-in-vicinity flights. Separately mandated for airplanes by § 91.151 (VFR) and § 91.167 (IFR). |
| T | Takeoff & landing distance data | § 91.103(b)(1) for aircraft with a required AFM/POH (most certificated airplanes, including the Cessna 172); § 91.103(b)(2) for aircraft without one. Applies to ANY flight. |
Two structural things to know about § 91.103 that the mnemonic hides:
- Paragraph (a) is one undivided block. There's no "(a)(1)" — weather, fuel, alternates, and known traffic delays all sit in the same paragraph. They're a single combined requirement for IFR or not-in-vicinity flights.
- Paragraph (b) splits by aircraft type. (b)(1) covers aircraft with an FAA-approved AFM/POH that includes takeoff and landing data — use those numbers. (b)(2) covers everything else, where you fall back on "other reliable information appropriate to the aircraft."
The mnemonic is a checklist for being a competent PIC. The reg is the floor an examiner — and the FAA in enforcement — will hold you to. Know both. When a DPE asks "what does § 91.103 require?" the answer isn't "NWKRAFT." The answer is the seven items above, mapped to their actual paragraphs.
What an Examiner Asks About § 91.103
This reg shows up on every private, instrument, commercial, and CFI checkride. Examiners aren't hunting for the mnemonic — they're hunting for whether you understand the standard: "all available information concerning that flight."
Common questions, in roughly the order they come up:
- "Walk me through the preflight planning for today's flight." Don't recite NWKRAFT. Show the work — pull up the weather brief, the NOTAMs you actually read, the fuel math you actually did. Examiners want evidence, not vocabulary.
- "Where does it say you have to check NOTAMs?" Trick question. NOTAMs aren't in 91.103 by name — they're "all available information." Say so. The answer the examiner wants: "Under the general due diligence standard of § 91.103, and the FAA has used 91.103 in enforcement against pilots who flew into TFRs they could have seen in NOTAMs."
- "What's your alternate if you can't complete this flight?" Have one. Have fuel for it. The alternatives clause in § 91.103(a) isn't just for IFR — it also covers any flight not in the vicinity of an airport. A 180-nm VFR cross-country triggers it.
- "Show me the takeoff and landing distance numbers for this airport at today's weight, temperature, and elevation." Real numbers from the POH, not memory. For aircraft with a required AFM (which is most of what you'll fly), § 91.103(b)(1) makes those POH numbers required information.
Examiners pass students who treat preflight planning like an operational habit, not a checkride trick. The reg is the minimum. Your goal is to be the pilot who'd be safe even if § 91.103 didn't exist.
A Real Preflight, Under § 91.103
You're planning a 180-nm VFR cross-country in a Cessna 172 from your home airport to a non-towered field you've never been to. Forecast is marginal VFR at the destination, improving by your ETA. Here's what § 91.103 makes you do — and what being a competent PIC adds on top:
The reg pulls you to: Pull weather (METARs, TAFs, area forecast, PIREPs). Check NOTAMs along the route and at both fields. Compute fuel: § 91.151 sets the airplane VFR floor at fuel to the first point of intended landing plus 30 minutes day or 45 minutes night at normal cruising speed — but § 91.103(a)'s "alternatives available" clause means you also need fuel to reach a real alternate if the destination goes IMC. Look up the destination runway length and surface. The 172 has an FAA-approved AFM, so § 91.103(b)(1) requires you to use the POH's takeoff and landing distance numbers at today's density altitude.
What competent adds: Call the FBO at the unfamiliar field — they'll tell you about the cattle on the runway last week, the noise-abatement turn locals fly, the fuel pump that's been intermittent. Look at the satellite picture, not just the METAR. Identify two genuine alternates, not one. Brief the go/no-go decision points before takeoff so you're not negotiating with yourself in the cockpit at 3,000 feet.
The reg is what they'll cite if you skip the work. The competent layer is what keeps the flight uneventful.
Amendment History
Amendment History Coming Soon
Every time this regulation changes, we'll record it here — the date, what was amended, and a plain-English summary of what shifted.