{"data":{"id":"us/14-cfr-121.621","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"14 CFR 121.621","heading":"Alternate airport for destination: Flag operations.","body":"(a) No person may dispatch an airplane under IFR or over-the-top unless he lists at least one alternate airport for each destination airport in the dispatch release, unless—\n(1) The flight is scheduled for not more than 6 hours and, for at least 1 hour before and 1 hour after the estimated time of arrival at the destination airport, the appropriate weather reports or forecasts, or any combination of them, indicate the ceiling will be:\n(i) At least 1,500 feet above the lowest circling MDA, if a circling approach is required and authorized for that airport; or\n(ii) At least 1,500 feet above the lowest published instrument approach minimum or 2,000 feet above the airport elevation, whichever is greater; and\n(iii) The visibility at that airport will be at least 3 miles, or 2 miles more than the lowest applicable visibility minimums, whichever is greater, for the instrument approach procedures to be used at the destination airport; or\n(2) The flight is over a route approved without an available alternate airport for a particular destination airport and the airplane has enough fuel to meet the requirements of § 121.641(b) or § 121.645(c).\n(b) For the purposes of paragraph (a) of this section, the weather conditions at the alternate airport must meet the requirements of the certificate holder's operations specifications.\n(c) No person may dispatch a flight unless he lists each required alternate airport in the dispatch release.","path":["Title 14—Aeronautics and Space","CHAPTER I—FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION","SUBCHAPTER G—AIR CARRIERS AND OPERATORS FOR COMPENSATION OR HIRE: CERTIFICATION AND OPERATIONS","PART 121—OPERATING REQUIREMENTS: DOMESTIC, FLAG, AND SUPPLEMENTAL OPERATIONS","Subpart U—Dispatching and Flight Release Rules"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-14.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:24:20Z","sha256":"28271c6e37b4a80aab3d64f26de315bdd5f7d06bb964f285260a329800304a0e","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/14-cfr-121.619","next":"us/14-cfr-121.623"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}