Preflight Briefings

Be aware of the distinction between MSL and AGL. Cloud heights associated with airports are customarily given in AGL. But areal guidance products, area forecasts, and PIREPs, use MSL. Also, anything stated as a ceiling or carrying the CIG abbreviation is AGL. Since IFR and MVFR conditions are based upon ceiling height, centralized products will always use AGL ceilings when constructing an IFR/MVFR depiction. If there is any doubt, find the information ahead of time or talk to a briefer.

Tim Vasquez

Monday, November 19, 2018 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Weather significantly contributes to general aviation accidents, accounting for 25% of all incidents reviewed (1982-2013) and a concerning 35% of all fatal GA accidents.
The majority of fatal weather-related accidents are caused by low ceilings, fog, and precipitation (often VFR into IMC), while convective weather, though less frequent, carries an exceptionally high fatality rate.
Pilots must conduct comprehensive preflight weather briefings to build a full mental picture of their route, utilizing diverse resources like TAFs, MOS data, and NWS Aviation Discussions, and continuously educate themselves on meteorology to enhance situational awareness and mitigate risks.

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Meteorologists Andrew Fultz and Walker Ashley in 2016 undertook a comprehensive review of NTSB data and published their findings in Physical Geography. The researchers looked at almost 60,000 general aviation accidents between 1982 and 2013. They identified 25 percent of the accidents as weather-related. Out of those accidents, 26 percent were fatal. One sobering finding was that 35 percent of all fatal GA accidents are due to weather.

The 31-year period saw 3972 accidents and 8052 lives lost in GA weather accidents. In 1982 things were grim, with an average of three crashes and two fatalities per day from weather. Through efforts of flight instructors, meteorologists, the FAA, and the NTSB, we’ve seen a fourfold drop in these numbers, but still with over 200 weather accidents each year, there’s much work to be done.