You’ve probably heard of pilots who have taken foolish weather risks and placed their passengers and themselves in terrible danger by flying into deteriorating visual meteorological conditions (VMC) while lacking an instrument rating or proficiency to deal with instrument weather. Why would anyone take such a risk?
Unfortunately, every year, more general aviation pilots perish in accidents caused by low ceilings and visibility than all other weather phenomena combined. It’s a major safety issue, and surprisingly not just for visual flight rules (VFR) pilots—30 percent of the accidents involve instrument-rated pilots. Even pilots with the best intentions can get into trouble when they fail to recognize a deteriorating situation and don’t take corrective action. How can we learn to anticipate conditions that spell trouble, and recognize common scenarios that can lead us to go against our better judgment?
Enter the Air Safety Institute’s latest Weather Wise online course, aptly named Weather Wise: VFR into IMC, which takes a new approach to the problem. Rather than just pointing out the dangers of low ceilings and visibility, the course prepares pilots for the real world by providing the basic weather knowledge it takes to anticipate poor conditions, explaining common weather scenarios that can trap unsuspecting pilots, and helping them understand the complexity of decision making and pilot judgment and how these can be compromised.
Weather Wise: VFR into IMC was developed with funding from the National Weather Service. It features several videos, including commentary by Rod Machado and AOPA Pilot’s Tom Horne.
This is ASI’s first course optimized for use on the iPad and designed for touchscreen use, making it easier than ever to navigate.
