Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Situational Awareness; Workload; Distraction
No Specific Anomaly Occurred All Types
General None Reported / Taken
Chart Or Publication; Company Policy; Manuals
Flight to west coast. Our route was taking us over FTI then J58 to ILC. While on the airway; just to pass the time; the captain and I discussed possible diversion airports around us... Where could we go land if we had to; right away? As we approached MLF VOR on J58 going westbound; we noticed there were very few diversion airports to consider. There are a few airports that are far away; such as SLC and LAS; that we customarily use as diversion airports if need be. But if we had to put the plane on the ground NOW; were could we go? Upon closer examination of [chart product]; we discovered two airports that were available and closer to us; just south of J58 near MLF VOR...CDC and SGU (Cedar City; UT and Saint George; UT). Both were suitable enough to land on in the event of a fire. They were not our company's stations; but the runways were long enough (8600 and 9300 feet respectively; both 150 ft wide). However when we tried to access approach charts in the unlikely event we needed to shoot an instrument approach; we discovered that 'Terminal Charts Not Available' was displayed in [the charting product]. We could see the runway numbers and the runway lengths; but we could access no charts; no airport diagrams; no instrument approaches; etc. We would be 'in the blind' so to speak if we truly had to drop in and land because of an on-board fire. Which lead us to the next question; WHY? Why do we not have charts for all of the airports in the U.S.? Why does the popular general aviation app on the iPad called FOREFLIGHT have the ability to show the airport diagrams and instrument approaches for these two airports; but [our charting product] does not? Is this an economic issue; i.e. it costs too much money for that subscription; or it would require an iPad with more storage? We are professional aviators who are charged by the FARs to land at the NEAREST SUITABLE airport in certain emergency situations. It is unfathomable to have that responsibility and not have the tools at our disposal to execute such a plan. I realize that airports are a dime a dozen in the East and Midwestern portions of our country; but that is not the case flying westward over the mountains. And since those options are so limited; we must have access to those same airports that are available to the general aviation pilot. In this case; the NEAREST SUITABLE airport would be disregarded simply because we did not have the necessary charts to safely execute an approach and land on a perfectly-suited piece of concrete. And to simply disregard the NEAREST SUITABLE airport in this case; is simply inexcusable. Provide the necessary tools to execute what the FARs require. In this case; airport terminal charts.
Air carrier First Officer noted his company's iPad charts do not include suitable emergency diversion airports in the area between DEN and SLC.