IFR Cancellation Question

Ron Rosenfeld wrote:

Perhaps you should reconsider and not cancel IFR until you are legal for
VFR. There have been plenty of times when I've had a "visual" on my
airport, but not been legal VFR.


He didn't say he cancels as soon as he has a visual on the airport, he
said once he has a visual on the airport he cancels as soon as he can.

Roy Smith wrote:

At a towered airport without radar, you are still IFR until your wheels
touch the ground (assuming you don't cancel on your own).


The same applies at towered airports with radar.

Jose wrote:

If your wheels touch the ground on a Cat IIIc missed approach though,
you ought to still be IFR. That would be one pretty pickle.


In conditions requiring a Cat IIIc approach the tower can't see your
wheels touch the ground.

Mark Hansen wrote:

So I wonder if the confusion came when ATC told Allen to Squawk VFR?
This just means that you're no longer in radar contact, and not that
you're no longer IFR, right?


No, the loss of radar contact of an IFR aircraft doesn't call for a
code change, it calls for advising the aircraft that radar contact was
lost.

Ron Natalie wrote:

Really, then how does the system know you landed and not crashed on
approach?


If the tower sees you on the runway they know you didn't crash on
approach.

Ron Natalie wrote:

I don't know how it happens, but the requirement is that they're
supposed to notice whether I have arrived at my destination not
whether I was handed off by approach. This means one of two
things:

1. Tower must tell the system that I've landed.
2. Tower must tell the system that I haven't landed.


1. Tower is part of the system.
2. Tower sees you land.
3. The system knows you landed.

1. Tower doesn't see you land.
2. Tower calls you on radio.
3. You don't respond to tower.
4. Tower initiates search.

OR

3. You respond "missed approach".
4. Tower says "contact departure".


OR

Several other variations. The point is no action is taken by the tower
to cancel an IFR flight plan for a landing aircraft because there
simply isn't any action that needs to be taken.

Alan Gerber wrote:

When I get flight following from New York Approach, they always ask me to
report the field in sight. (This is for both controlled and uncontrolled
fields.) This is for airports that are NOT in the Bravo airspace --
they're either near or underneath it.

I assume the purpose it serves is it tells them when they can terminate
flight following.


They can't terminate flight following if the aircraft hasn't reported
the field in sight?

Alan Gerber wrote:

I guess I worded that poorly. Of course they can terminate flight
following whenever they need to. Once the field is in sight, you pretty
much *need* to terminate flight following -- either to contact the tower,
for a towered field, or to start talking on CTAF, otherwise.


What if you're just a couple of miles from the field but haven't
reported it in sight?

A Lieberma wrote:

If it's an IFR plane in front of you, you won't be cleared for the visual
to an UNcontrolled airport until that plane cancels his IFR.

An uncontrolled airport is literally shut down for IFR arrivals until
that IFR cancellation is received by the plane in front of you. Thus the
courtesy / importance to cancel as soon as you can so the person behind
you won't have to hold.


That's not correct. Visual separation can be used between multiple
aircraft conducting visual approaches at uncontrolled airports.

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in
s.com:

What if you're just a couple of miles from the field but haven't
reported it in sight?

Surely I hope you are not talking from experience on this scenario??? If
so, what exactly did happen?

On a *clear* day where visibility is above marginal VFR, couple miles from
the airport, I am betting what you are describing is a very, very and very
rare occurance.

And would your workload permit VFR flight following on days where MVFR and
IFR traffic are intermingling?

What you describe above would **almost** sound like an emergency situation
for a lost pilot and nothing near the norm???

Allen