Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

5 Answers

Airborne IFR clearance question

Asked by: 1999 views , ,
FAA Regulations, Instrument Rating, Weather

My question is:  where is it published (if it is) the minimum altitude at which one can pick up an airborne IFR clearance for a particular Uncontrolled airport.  I recently had this issue on a VFR departure with relatively low ceilings, where the controller wouldn’t give me the clearance until I was higher and where I couldn’t climb high enough VFR to get the clearance, even though I was in Radar contact and communicating with ATC.  It would be nice to know what that minimum is altitude beforehand(like it should be published on the ODP, Chart supplement, or somewhere similar)  The only Thing I could find was the MVA (Minimum Vector Altitude) which i believe is For controllers not pilots.  

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

5 Answers



  1. Mark Kolber on Nov 22, 2019

    Are you sure that was the conversation? Or was it more like the controller asking you, “can you maintain you own terrain and obstruction clearance until [certain altitude]?” and you said, “No”?

    That would be standard and all you had to say is “yes” (assuming you could) and you would have had your clearance. Saying “no” means ATC can’t give it to you.

    There is no “minimum altitude” to get your clearance. You can even get it sitting on the ground. But once VFR airborne, ATC is required to ask you whether you can get to the minimum instrument altitude from where you are without hitting something, whether it be via an ODP, published route or procedure, MVA, visually, etc…

    I recently did an article on this exact topic in IFR Magazine last year.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. vector victor on Nov 22, 2019

    Hi Mark, I actually read your article prior to making the post. My situation was very similar to the situation you presented in the article with the exception that I was NOT asked if I could maintain my own obstruction clearance. I Just downloaded the ATC communication File from ATC live, the Controller said he would be “unable to give clearance until 4000 because of an approach corridor to another airport”. He did not say which airport but I’m assuming it to be March AFB. In this situation I was able to turn around and climb the opposite direction up to 4000 and get the clearance. Had that not been the case; I would have been in a very difficult/dangerous situation.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. Mark Kolber on Nov 22, 2019

    Yeah, that’s a very different situation. If it’s an IFR day, they have to fit you in. Best advice I can think of offhand is, if you are anywhere near busy airspace on a day like that , get your clearance on the ground. You can also look at the approach corridors of nearby airports.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  4. KDS on Nov 24, 2019

    It’s also often useful to ask the locals. It might be something as simple as “You won’t be able to reach them on the ground here, but when you get to the runup area, you can reach them for a clearance”. It’s just impossible to put all that kind of local knowledge into a publication.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  5. Matthew Waugh on Dec 01, 2019

    Hi Mark – can you clarify your “have to fit you in”, because it could be construed that ATC is “required” to give you a clearance in the air. Which I don’t believe is correct. The ATC response “unable, remain VFR” is valid and might even be expected in busy airspace. I suspect that your meaning was BEFORE they can give you a clearance they have to fit you in, and if they can’t you’re out of luck.
    At which point your options are limited, wait and hope you can remain VFR or land and start again, this time by getting your clearance on the ground.
    Picking up an IFR clearance in the air is not to be taken lightly, many accidents have resulted from a delayed clearance leading to CFR.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.