IFR Mastery Tag: ATC Comms

There’s nothing ambiguous about an approach clearance—or is there? Can a wily instructor you employed for an Instrument Proficiency Check trip you into self-doubt with one, well-timed question? Then again, maybe the CFII is just as unsure as you are—and both of you are flying blind.

The National Airspace System works because hundreds of Centers, Approaches, and Control Towers coordinate traffic through their interlocking system of airspaces. When flying under VFR, you’re the lynchpin for this communication. Under IFR, it should be done for you. Sometimes, though, it’s not clear who’s responsible for handling the call. Is this one of them?

ATC’s vectors to final routinely make approaches simpler for the pilot and all controllers to move more airplanes from the sky to the runway in quick succession. The problem comes when a last-minute change requires reprogramming the avionics and another airplane closing in means there isn’t much time to get the right waypoints in the […]

Much of our IFR flying happens in the fuzzy world of instrument rules in visual conditions. What happens when a pressing situation puts your instincts at odds with your clearance, especially when ATC doesn’t seem the least bit concerned? Is it OK to act first and tell ATC later, or do you need permission to […]

It’s a quick trip for a lunch date on a VFR day. However, it’s busy airspace, so you file IFR to make your life easier. When it’s time for the visual approach, you get sent over to Tower but without one key item in place. That omission puts you between a regulation and a hard […]

Conditions are practically VFR, but it’s night in mountainous terrain so your IFR routing provides the safety you want. Then you realize the controller’s last clearance is lower than you’d expect for this route. Is that a non-issue, or a controlled flight into terrain waiting to happen? The aircraft synthetic vision and terrain-warning systems show […]

After a week enjoying the splendor of the Grand Canyon, you’re one instrument approach away from a safe return home. Unfortunately, a system failure leaves you unable to talk with ATC and you’ll arrive at your destination 45 minutes ahead of schedule. As the classic lyrics ask: Should you stay or should you go?

Slogging along in wind and rain at the minimum altitude for the airway, you’ve been in and out of communication with ATC for the past hour. A shortcut clearance promised to lessen your misery but now presents you with a situation they never covered with the black-and-white rules from your IFR ground school.

You’ve added quite a few handy tricks to your IFR bag, including departing VFR to get your clearance in the air. It’s always worked without a hitch—until this time when ATC asks a question you never expected. Now your options are vanishing and you have only seconds to come up with an answer.

Your airplane partner is signed off for his instrument checkride, but must wait a week to take the test. On an actual IFR day, he asks if you’ll file IFR and ride right seat while he flys to stay sharp. You’re not an instructor, although you’re quite proficient in this airplane. Will you do it?

When the frequency gets busy and ATC can’t talk fast enough, it can seem like you’ve been forgotten—and perhaps you have been. How far will you let this situation deteriorate before you take preemptive action, even though it may be in direct violation of an ATC clearance? The clock is ticking.

We commonly think of ATC as our partner in the cockpit, especially when we fly alone. Yet ATC is as fallible as any other human resource. What will you do when you when the situation leaves you only moments to decide if following the clearance as issued will lead to salvation or catastrophe?

You and three pilot friends have been planning this trip to Oshkosh since last year. The first leg to Buffalo went flawlessly, but now you must negotiate your way through a line of dangerously strong thunderstorms and you can’t get the routing you think is safe. What’s your plan?

IFR flights in marginal weather require continually monitoring conditions along the route and adjusting the flight as needed. Sometimes there are clear dangers, but often it’s a matter of balancing the comfort, duration, and safety of the flight. How will you rework the plan when there’s no clear choice?

You and your flying club buddy, Ted, head out to do some practice instrument approaches to maintain your IFR currency. Ted is a retired professional pilot and your flying mentor. You enjoy learning from him, but today you are forced into a difficult situation without his help.

Flying instrument approaches to remote airports can present unique challenges. See how this approach to a backwoods airport went from straight-forward to highly challenging in the blink of an eye. Understanding the IFR trap inherent in this scenario reduces your risk when flying IFR out in the sticks.

Even though you received transition training for a faster airplane capable of flying at higher altitudes, you discover a significant gap in your IFR knowledge while on what should be a routine flight at higher altitudes. It would have been if you review the procedure before departing.

At a critical moment during an IFR flight, frequency congestion can turn from inconvenient to downright dangerous. This is further complicated when there are multiple airplanes in the same sector of sky with similar call signs. This scenario is based on a real accident situation that could happen to anyone.

A short flight home from Nantucket Island off Massachusetts with your wife and two friends is uneventful until the final stages. You’ll face night IFR, a potential circle-to-land approach, and multiple heading changes from ATC. See how well you do making sound decisions under pressure.