IFR In The Mountains

A cardinal rule of mountain flying is to always be mindful of places where the terrain climbs faster than the airplane, and then avoid them. This isnt exclusively a backcountry issue-you dont have to fly in the Western U.S. or in the mountains to get bitten-there are plenty of airports on the U.S. East Coast where we can run into things if we cant climb well enough or if we stray off the published route, whether IFR or VFR.

Mike Hart

Monday, May 16, 2016 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Pilots must diligently plan for terrain and obstacle clearance during departures, utilizing published procedures (SIDs/ODPs) and verifying aircraft performance against required climb rates, as terrain can often climb faster than an aircraft.
Specific hazards like "black holes" (unlit terrain at night), power lines in topographical pinch points, and new "pop-up obstacles" (found in NOTAMs) require heightened awareness and careful pre-flight evaluation.
Modern electronic flight bags (EFBs) provide essential, up-to-date charts and NOTAMs, leaving no excuse for inadequate pre-flight planning to ensure safe navigation around obstacles.

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A cardinal rule of mountain flying is to always be mindful of places where the terrain climbs faster than the airplane, and then avoid them. This isn’t exclusively a backcountry issue—you don’t have to fly in the Western U.S. or in the mountains to get bitten—there are plenty of airports on the U.S. East Coast where we can run into things if we can’t climb well enough or if we stray off the published route, whether IFR or VFR.

The good news is there are well-established and published procedures we can use—VFR or IFR—when failing to outclimb terrain or obstacles poses a threat. The bad news is we can’t always meet the minimum rate of climb requirements. That’s where some additional flight planning is necessary.