Seeing is Believing

Wednesday, July 26, 2023 at 08:58 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

A pilot, despite meticulous flight planning and ample fuel reserves, encountered unexpectedly severe low-IFR conditions at a familiar destination, resulting in two missed approaches.
The missed approaches were primarily due to the "AWOS trap"—over-reliance on single-point automated weather reports that did not accurately reflect critical visual conditions along the approach path, especially where "Visual Segment - Obstacles" were noted.
The experience emphasized the importance of comprehensive preparation (fuel, alternates) but also highlighted the critical need for pilots to avoid descending below minimums without sufficient visual references, successfully diverting to an alternate before returning later when conditions improved.

See a mistake? Contact us.

Your flight is short—just over an hour. What could happen? A lot. Solid clouds can develop on the way and hunker down into low bases by the time you descend for the destination. If it’s misty underneath, visibility likes to swing from marginal to none. Well, that’s why missed approaches and alternates exist. Meanwhile, it could all burn off into a beautiful VMC day any minute. So if you decide to bank on that and rely on local weather reports, just know that they might lead you astray.

Fat on Fuel