Requesting IFR clearance command doesn't work

Bug Reporting Hub ATC, Traffic & NAVAIDs
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1

ISSUE DESCRIPTION

Description of the issue: After I finish to setup FMC, boarding and requesting baggage and catering, as soon as I try to get IFR clearance from ATC the command gets stuck, both using the mission steps or the command tab.
If I try to fly anyway, sometimes having to skip to take off because any request to ATC gets stuck after the issue, I don’t get any clearance to land. If I land anyway I get the warning for unauthorized landing and the game crashes.

If applicable, which aircraft is experiencing this issue:
737 MAX

[PC Only] Did you remove all your community mods/add-ons? If yes, are you still experiencing the issue?
yes, issue still on

FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

How often does this occur for you (Example: Just once, every time on sim load, intermittently)?
Every flight with 737 max in the last couple of days, no issue until 3-4 days ago

REPRODUCTION STEPS

Please list clear steps you took in order to help our test team reproduce the same issue:

  1. Setting up FMC preflight, starting to board
  2. Request baggage and catering
  3. Impossible to get IFR clearance

YOUR SETTINGS

If the issue still occurs with no mods and add-ons, please continue to report your issue. If not, please move this post to the User Support Hub.

What peripherals are you using, if relevant:
not relevant

[PC Only] Are you using Developer Mode or have you made any changes to it?
NO Dev Mode

[PC, MSFS 2020 Only] Are you using DX11 or DX12?

[PC Only] What GPU (Graphics Card) do you use?
RTX4090

[PC Only] What other relevant PC specs can you share?
AMD 7950x3d
64GB ram

MEDIA

Please add a screenshot or video of the issue occurring.

[END OF FIRST USER REPORT]

2

Hi there,

It sounds like the issue might be related to how the flight plan is being transmitted to the ATC. Can I ask how you’re transmitting your flight plan to the ATC? Are you doing it before launching the mission or free flight (while still in the menu), or are you updating it after loading into the cockpit with the tablet?

Here’s how I personally handle this process to ensure everything works smoothly:

  1. Before launching the flight (in the menu):
  • On the tablet, I input the departure and destination airports.
  • I transmit this basic flight plan to the ATC from the tablet. This step is critical—if I don’t transmit the plan at this stage, it won’t work properly later, even if I update the flight plan after requesting it from the avionics.
  1. After launching the flight (in the cockpit):
  • I program the full flight plan into the FMC, including waypoints, SID, and STAR if applicable.
  • Then, I open the tablet and select “Request Route from Avionics.” This syncs the FMC flight plan with the tablet.
  • I double-check everything to ensure the flight plan looks correct.
  1. Set the correct cruise altitude:
  • Using the tablet, I adjust the altitude to match my FMC’s planned cruise altitude.
  1. Transmit to ATC again:
  • Once everything is ready, I transmit the updated flight plan to ATC using the tablet.
  • After completing all these steps, I request IFR clearance from ATC.

If I skip the initial transmission of the basic flight plan in the menu, I can’t properly transmit or update the flight plan later, even after syncing with the avionics.

If you’re already following a similar procedure and still having issues, there might be a bug with the 737 MAX. Providing a video or screenshots could help the dev team replicate and resolve the problem.

Let me know if this helps or if you need further clarification. Good luck, and happy flying! :blush:

1 Like
3

Sending the flight plan to ATC before accepting the mission did it for me on a mission from MMPR to CYEG.

When the bug occurred (nothing happening after requesting IFR clearance during boarding), I killed the game instead of aborting the mission, because I was concerned the mission would fail and disappear from the airport mission list. When I restarted the game, the mission was still available, I sent the FP to ATC before accepting it and it worked.