In The Clouds

Isabel Goyer

Saturday, February 16, 2013 at 12:57 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Clouds pose a significant, often fatal, hazard for pilots, particularly new VFR pilots who inadvertently enter Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC), leading to loss of control or controlled flight into terrain.
Current FAA regulations for cloud clearances are largely ineffective and impractical to enforce or follow, offering little real deterrence or protection, making VFR flight in cloudy conditions statistically far riskier than IFR.
Pilot training is often insufficient in preparing new pilots for the complex and dangerous decisions required when encountering clouds, but modern cockpit technology offers crucial safety enhancements like improved situational awareness and autopilot assistance.

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** | |Illustrations by Chris Gall**|

In Joni Mitchell’s 1969 song “Both Sides, Now,” a haunting and sentimental little earwig, the singer laments that after looking at clouds “from both sides now,” she really doesn’t know them very well at all. The same could be said for many pilots. Even after thousands of hours in the air sorting out this kind of visible moisture and that, clouds remain enigmatic. And potentially deadly too, something Joni failed to mention.