Descent below MDA -- what would you do?

"Ron Rosenfeld" wrote in message ...
On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 08:39:15 -0400, Roy Smith wrote:

Ron Rosenfeld wrote:
How does it improve the legal situation to cancel IFR when you are still
IMC? (You mentioned visibility of 2 1/2 miles).

I my original post, I said something like "reports of 2-1/2 to 4, assume
2-1/2". In a followup, I asked people to ignore that assumption and
consider accept the possibility that it might be 3. My apologies if I
confused the issue with this pair of contradictory statements.

I confuse easily these days g.

But assuming you were legal to cancel IFR, and wanted to do so, could you
not contact FSS through one of the relatively close VOR's, and cancel that
way? Or are they, too, out of radio reception range at that altitude? I
note HUO or CMK might be within range.


On 2 1/2 mile final in such conditions I'm not going to be trying to get through to FSS. ATC maybe, since
they're frequency is still on my "flip-flop".

But then again if I'm on 2 1/2 mile final and the visibility is 3 miles (VFR), then I can see the runway, so
yeah, I'm gonna come down and land... Conversely, if I can't see the runway then I am concluding that the
visibility is not 3 miles
--
Cheers,
John Clonts
Temple, Texas
N7NZ

On Tue, 16 Aug 2005 02:11:06 GMT, "John Clonts"
wrote:

On 2 1/2 mile final in such conditions I'm not going to be trying to get through to FSS. ATC maybe, since
they're frequency is still on my "flip-flop".

The OP has already written that he is "long out of radar and radio contact
with ATC." So contacting ATC directly is not an option.

But then again if I'm on 2 1/2 mile final and the visibility is 3 miles (VFR), then I can see the runway, so
yeah, I'm gonna come down and land... Conversely, if I can't see the runway then I am concluding that the
visibility is not 3 miles

As I previously wrote, I would not cancel either and I certainly would not
descend below MDA without having the requisite 91.175 items in view.

But the OP was posing a hypothetical in which he wanted to descend below
MDA; in this hypothetical he was in VMC conditions, but still on an IFR
flight plan.

So far as contacting FSS to cancel IFR when in VMC, it's no big deal (so
long as you have the airport in sight). I frequently try to do that
returning to my home base where there is no radio contact with ATC below
about 4000' (airport at 40' MSL). Of course, my home base rarely has
traffic.


Ron (EPM) (N5843Q, Mooney M20E) (CP, ASEL, ASES, IA)