Smoke Gets In Your Sky

The blue of a dry western sky can be breathtaking. But just after winters overcast gives way to clear and deep blue, an insidious menace begins to turn the blue skies white: smoke from the summer fire season. If the national news is covering numerous large western fires, anybody planning a flight in the western U.S. between July and October needs to be prepared to factor smoke into their pre-flight briefings. Check the fire map, or at least glance at the distribution of forest-fire TFRs.

Mike Hart

Monday, August 24, 2015 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Wildfire smoke drastically reduces visibility, often creating effective Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) even in technically Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC), leading to disorientation and challenging navigation.
Beyond visibility, smoke plumes contain severe hazards such as violent turbulence, strong downdrafts, increased temperatures, and respiratory irritation, making them dangerous to fly through.
Pilots should not rely solely on traditional weather forecasts for smoke; they must proactively check fire maps, TFRs, and air quality models, and prepare for IMC conditions when flying near wildfire smoke.

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The blue of a dry western sky can be breathtaking. But just after winter’s overcast gives way to clear and deep blue, an insidious menace begins to turn the blue skies white: smoke from the summer fire season. If the national news is covering numerous large western fires, anybody planning a flight in the western U.S. between July and October needs to be prepared to factor smoke into their pre-flight briefings. Check the fire map, or at least glance at the distribution of forest-fire TFRs.

While it’s hard to find NTSB reports singling out smoke outside the cockpit as a significant safety factor, my experience seeing the outflow from major fires turn perfectly good VFR flying weather into IMC says otherwise. Sometimes it is a regional phenomena. Other times it is quite localized. No matter what, it always has an impact on my aeronautical decision-making.