AIUI ICAO and EASA regs allow you to fly through a danger area VFR or IFR but you are at your own risk
ICAO does not impose permission on D-area but do you have a reference in EASA reg?
In France, yes it’s not possible to “infringe LFD-area”, it’s written in the PPL program 
https://www.chezgligli.net/fiches/A02-0708-01.pdf
In UK, you need to read this before driving through EGD-area…
Not sure why it’s not written as ICAO difference in UK AIP GEN1.7? I am sure it’s helpful for visitors
Is France now merging with Sweden and the UK? I can see Europe is getting more united than ever, due to Mr Putin’s adventures, but I didn’t think it went quite that far. Maybe next week?
Isn’t it in the EASA airspace definitions?
Airborne_Again wrote:
I have written an article about uncontrolled IFR in Sweden.
Very nice write-up, thank you!
Peter wrote:
but the ritual phrase “cleared to XXXX” where XXXX is the filed destination airport, is meaningful only if the entire flight is in CAS.
A clearance is not a ritual phrase. It is a clearance.
Can you quote any written rule that says “as soon as you touch any uncontrolled airspace any clearance you got before is automatically void”? I don’t agree to that.
A clearance “cleared to xxx, flight planned route” includes ckearance for all airspaces on this route up to point xxxx. If ATC wants to change this, they need to reclear or cancel the clearance. This can not be done implicitely!
If that were the case, as a pilot your answer to any vectors or “turn right 20 deg to avoid” from ATC would always be “negative, have to check airspace structure first, will come back to you in 5 minutes”. ATC would not work this way.
Airborne_Again wrote:
But restricted areas as such don’t require clearances, they require permissions.
This is an interesting point. Need to investigate. What is the ICAO standard wording for giving that permission? I have never heard a “D-e… permitted to cross ED-R…”.
MichaLSA wrote:
When you are cleared you are cleared’ is indeed a partly re-opened discussion item for uncontrolled airspaces. Germany for example already tried to threaten pilots by punitive tickets after filing and getting cleared IFR through restricted areas
Completely different topic. Those pilots have never been cleared through a restricted area. They have filed a flightplan going through this ED-R and that flightplan has been accepted by the system – but an accepted flightplan is not at all a clearance.
German authorities tried to fine those pilots based on the accusation of “insufficient flight preparation” as they claimed “pilots should have known that they can’t fly through these ED-R”. It turned out very quickly that the announcement of these ED-R have been incorrect and therefore the pilots could not have reasonably known.
It’s not comparable to a situation where you actually received a clearance but ATC (or some other agency) ex post claims “the clearance, however, has not been valid as the ATC unit giving you that clearance had no right to do so / you did not need a clearance but a permission / The clearance got automatically invalid at some point in time due to a rule which is written nowhere”
Malibuflyer wrote:
Can you quote any written rule that says “as soon as you touch any uncontrolled airspace any clearance you got before is automatically void”? I don’t agree to that.
If the UK it works that way. “services terminated…”. I think it is in the manuals (MATS).
Why not simply ask ATC what is your clearance limit?
- IFR clearance has clearance limit, usually: destination or control airspace boundary
- IFR CAS/OCAS you are only guaranteed clearance from the last ATSU unit
4.5.7.1 CLEARANCE LIMIT
4.5.7.1.1 A clearance limit shall be described by specifying the name of the appropriate significant point, or
aerodrome, or controlled airspace boundary.
4.5.7.1.2 When prior coordination has been effected with units under whose control the aircraft will subsequently
come, or if there is reasonable assurance that it can be effected a reasonable time prior to their assumption of control, the
clearance limit shall be the destination aerodrome or, if not practicable, an appropriate intermediate point, and coordination
shall be expedited so that a clearance to the destination aerodrome may be issued as soon as possible.
4.5.7.1.3 If an aircraft has been cleared to an intermediate point in adjacent controlled airspace, the appropriate
ATC unit will then be responsible for issuing, as soon as practicable, an amended clearance to the destination aerodrome.
4.5.7.1.4 When the destination aerodrome is outside controlled airspace, the ATC unit responsible for the last
controlled airspace through which an aircraft will pass shall issue the appropriate clearance for flight to the limit of that
controlled airspace
6.3.2.3 CONTENTS
Standard clearances for departing aircraft shall contain the following items:
a) aircraft identification;
b) clearance limit, normally destination aerodrome;
c) designator of the assigned SID, if applicable;
d) cleared level;
e) allocated SSR code;
f) any other necessary instructions or information not contained in the SID description, e.g. instructions relating to
change of frequency.
There is no question and no room for interpretation in this ICAO rule.
1. Clearence limit is to be specified by ATC. Clearance limit can be the boundary of controlled airspace, but still has to be specified by ATC. So if you get “cleared to XXXX” you are cleared to XXXX and not until some airspace boundary.
2. Even more important – and more telling “the ATC unit responsible for the last controlled airspace through wich an aircraft will pass”.
So the ICAO rule explicitely reflects the case that during a flight you pass through controlled airspace as well as areas of uncontrolled airspace. And that doesn’t change the clearance limit.
So taking this rules: The clearance limit is the clearance limit independent of if you pass through OCAS in between or not. It is the duty of ATC to do coordination if necessary.
Even if your clearance limit has not been your destination in the first place (e.g. “you are cleared to boundary of controlled airspace …”). But even in that case, it is according to these ICAO rules the responsibility of ATC to coordinate for reentry of CAS in a timely manner (even “expedited” if required).
Agree with everything said above. However, it can be the use of the word “cleared” that can sometimes pose a problem.
In the communications sections of both ICAO and EASA it advises the the word “cleared” should only be used in specific circumstances, mainly those during the phases of take off and landing.
In another thread I posted a communications booklet published by the DGAC as an aid to both pilots and ATSO’s. The phraseology is both French and English but the explanatory text is in French. In the explanatory text you would note the word “clairance” used quite often. However, in the actual phraseology you would note that the words “cleared to (authorized in French)” or “clearance” are hardly ever used.
Some ATC instructions you get while under IFR are not ICAO clearances
- Cleared to enter controlled airspace
- Cleared to leave controlled airspace
- Climb DCT ABC, 3kft remain OCAS
- Climb HDG 270, FL80 maintain VMC
