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2 Answers

Inadvertent IFR

Asked by: 2153 views General Aviation

If a pilot is instrument rated and flying in marginal weather or perhaps under a special VFR clearance, but the weather changes unexpectedly and they inadvertently find themselves in the clouds, is it a big deal to just call up approach and request a pop-up IFR clearance? Would you be in potential legal trouble?

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2 Answers



  1. Koehn on Aug 31, 2018

    I would declare an emergency, because (a) it’s an emergency: you can no longer keep yourself separated from other aircraft, and (b) it will give you top priority to get your clearance, and you’re using your emergency authority which can get you out of certain tricky spots. You can cancel the emergency once you have your clearance and you’re under ATC control.

    On the ground I’d file an ASRS as a backup; explain what you did and what you learned, not that that gets you out of any legal trouble, but because it helps others learn from your mistake.

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  2. Mark Kolber on Sep 03, 2018

    I generally agree with Koehn for two reasons. One is the reason he gave. The other is, at least according to some analysts, the data indicates having an instrument rating is not a guarantee of success when encountering instrument conditions on a VFR flight.

    I don’t know if it is because of lack of currency, lack of proficiency, or simply the element of surprise when encountering the unexpected.

    My agreement is not without exceptions. I think this is a question more conducive to thought and pilot ADM than a black and white answer.

    As one example, I might not declare an emergency if already operating under SVFR if the only consideration were separation since ATC provides non-radar separation for SVFR flights. But if that the case, I’m not sure why a current, proficient instrument pilot would opt for an SVFR pop up instead of an IFR pop up to begin with. That doesn’t mean there is no reason, just that I can’t think of one offhand.

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