Those Grey Areas

Elaine Kauh

Monday, May 22, 2023 at 10:02 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Pilots planning instrument approaches in marginal weather must be prepared for rapidly changing conditions and be ready to execute a missed approach if visual landing requirements (per §91.175) are not met at the decision altitude.
The discrepancy between reported automated weather (AWOS) and actual in-flight visibility requires pilots to exercise ultimate judgment, prioritizing safety over digital readouts.
A missed approach and subsequent holding pattern can serve as a valuable strategy to allow time for weather conditions to improve, facilitating a successful second approach rather than an immediate diversion.

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Most instrument trips end with one approach and one landing, after which you go about your day. For those times when one approach doesn’t result in a touchdown, the choices are: A second approach, or a diversion, hopefully somewhere with coffee and cookies. The common protocol is to decide that ahead of time, based on conditions and your own policies. But when the weather’s in that grey zone between IFR and VFR, there’ll be some choices that aren’t always clear-cut.

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