In a radar environment, departures from the same airport/heliport with radar identification established within 1 mile of the takeoff runway require courses to diverge by at least how many degrees?

• A. 10
• B. 20
• C. 15
• D. 25

Answer: (C)

When two aircraft depart from the same airport and are radar-identified within one mile of the runway, their initial flight paths must diverge by at least 15 degrees. This small angular separation ensures that, at such close proximity to the runway, their tracks won’t stay parallel long enough to risk encroachment as they climb out. The 15-degree minimum provides safe lateral separation early in the departure phase, allowing the aircraft to diverge quickly as they gain distance. Smaller divergences could leave them on nearly the same path for longer, increasing conflict risk, while larger divergences are more conservative than required for this scenario.