Definition
A standardized set of single-letter codes filed in the equipment block of an ICAO or FAA flight plan to inform air traffic control which navigation, communication, and surveillance capabilities the aircraft has on board and operational. The codes indicate items such as the type of transponder, the navigation systems available (for example VOR, DME, GNSS, RNAV), and approved performance-based navigation capabilities. ATC uses this information to assign routes, approaches, and clearances appropriate to the aircraft.
Plain English
Letters written on a flight plan that tell air traffic control what radios, navigation gear, and transponder the airplane has working that day.
Context Anchor
You see Flight Plan Equipment Codes when filing or reviewing a flight plan, especially for flights that will receive air traffic control services.
Why Pilots Care
Tells controllers what routes, altitudes, and procedures you can accept and what separation services they can provide.
Intuition Check
Do not read these as a general inventory of everything in the airplane. They are specific flight-plan codes for installed, working capabilities that matter to air traffic control.
Example Sentence 1
Before filing IFR, the pilot checked the avionics list and entered the correct flight plan equipment codes for the aircraft's GPS and transponder.
Example Sentence 2
Filing the wrong equipment code can result in being routed around RNAV airways the aircraft cannot use.