Originally Posted by snowbunnytx

One question with respect to programming the flight computer:

I assume that entering a waypoint, or airport code, etc, does not necessarily mean the aircraft will immediately head toward that destination. It sounds as if there is the capability to enter a "secondary" or "backup" route in case of emergency, and then activate switching to the secondary route at a later point in time.

In theory, a pilot with enough time could update such a secondary route as the flight progressed, changing the "go to in case of emergency" destination several times. Having the data pre-entered would save the time of finding it and entering it if there really was an emergency.

Is this how it works? Or does entering a waypoint show a certain intent to head there?