Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC)
Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC)
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SKYbrary Aviation Safety. (June 24, 2022). Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC).
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Description
Instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) are meteorological conditions expressed in terms of visibility, distance from cloud, and ceiling, less than the minima specified for visual meteorological conditions (VMC). (ICAO Annex 2)
VMC are detailed in ICAO Annex 2: Rules of the Air, Chapter 4: Visual Flight Rules. Essentially, they are:
- When above 3,000ft or 1,000ft above terrain, whichever is higher:
- 1500m horizontally and 1,000 ft vertically from cloud;
- Flight visibility 5km below 10,000ft and 8km above 10,000ft.
- When below 3,000ft or 1,000ft above terrain, whichever is higher:
- Clear of cloud and in sight of the surface;
- Flight visibility 5km.
Further Reading
ICAO Annex 2: Rules of the Air, Chapter 4.
What Links Here (213)
- Situational Awareness
- Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC)
- Baulked Landing: Guidance for Flight Crew
- Effective Briefings
- Fuel - Diversion to Weather Alternate
- Instrument Flight Rules (IFR)
- North Atlantic Operations - Airspace
- Operations Manual (OM)
- Rate of Turn
- Side-step Manoeuvre
- Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS)
- D228, vicinity Bodø Norway, 2003
- D328, vicinity Manchester UK, 2006
- T154, vicinity Svalbard Norway, 1996
- B734 / MD81, en-route, Romford UK, 1996
- MD83, vicinity Nantes France, 2004
- MD81, vicinity Stockholm Arlanda Sweden, 1991
- B752, vicinity Gardermoen Oslo Norway, 2002
- F15 / B752, en-route, South East of Birmingham UK, 2000
- B737 / F100, vicinity Geneva Switzerland, 2006
- JS41, en-route, North West of Aberdeen UK, 2008
- F50 / T6, vicinity Maastricht Netherlands, 2007
- A333, vicinity Wom Guam Airport, Guam, 2002
- B463, en-route, South of Frankfurt Germany, 2005
- DC86, en-route, Narrows VA USA, 1996
- SF34, en-route, Santa Maria CA USA, 2006
- A332, en-route, Atlantic Ocean, 2009
- AT73, en-route, Roselawn IN USA, 1994
- B733, vicinity Bournemouth UK, 2007
- SF34, vicinity Zurich Switzerland, 2000
- A320, vicinity Sochi Russia, 2006
- A320, vicinity Melbourne Australia, 2007
- A320, vicinity Glasgow UK, 2008
- B733, Nottingham East Midlands, UK 2006
- CRJ2, Providence RI USA, 2007
- SF34, New York JFK USA, 1999
- MD83, vicinity Paris Orly France, 1997
- A333, en-route, Kota Kinabalu Malaysia, 2009
- DH8D, vicinity Southampton UK, 2009
- DH8C, vicinity Sydney Australia, 2008
- E195, en-route, Irish Sea UK, 2008
- AT43, vicinity Pristina Kosovo, 1999
- B712, en-route, Union Star MO USA, 2005
- GLF4, vicinity Kerry Ireland, 2009
- T154, vicinity Smolensk Russian Federation, 2010
- S61, vicinity Bødo Norway, 2008
- B763, en-route North Bay Canada, 2009
- A321, en-route, Northern Sudan, 2010
- B752, en-route, Central Mauritania, 2010
- B733, vicinity Chambery France, 2010
- A310, vicinity Quebec Canada, 2008
- AT43, Lubbock TX USA, 2009
- C501, Birmingham UK, 2010
- B738, en-route, south west of Beirut Lebanon, 2010
- B712, en-route, Western Australia, 2006
- TBM8, Birmingham UK, 2011
- DHC6, en-route, Arghakhanchi Western Nepal, 2014
- AT75, vicinity Magong Taiwan, 2014
- A306, vicinity Birmingham AL USA, 2013
- AT72, vicinity Pakse Laos, 2013
- SB20, vicinity Sumburgh, UK 2014
- S76, Peasmarsh East Sussex UK, 2012
- A320, vicinity Lyons Saint-Exupéry France, 2012
- A321, vicinity Islamabad Pakistan, 2010
- B732, vicinity Islamabad Pakistan, 2012
- E145, vicinity Manchester UK, 2001
- SF34, en-route, northern North Sea UK, 2014
- C500, vicinity Santiago Spain, 2012
- SF34, en-route, near Caltrauna Argentina, 2011
- A346, en route, eastern Indian Ocean, 2013
- H25B, vicinity Kerry Ireland, 2015
- B752, en route, western Ireland, 2013
- MD82, en route, west of Wichita KA USA, 2002
- B773, vicinity Houston TX USA, 2014
- E145, en-route, near London ON Canada, 2014
- B738, vicinity Christchurch New Zealand, 2011
- B735, vicinity Kazan Russia, 2013
- A320, vicinity Naha Okinawa Japan, 2014
- C501, vicinity Trier-Fohren Germany, 2014
- A320, Hiroshima Japan, 2015
- H25B, vicinity Akron OH USA, 2015
- B744, vicinity Bishkek Kyrgyzstan, 2017
- B738, Delhi India, 2014
- A320, Jaipur India, 2014
- B738, Rostov-on-Don Russia, 2016
- B738, vicinity Trivandrum India, 2015
- A320, Halifax NS Canada, 2015
- B788, en-route, north of Darwin NT Australia, 2015
- DH8A, Saulte Ste. Marie ON Canada, 2015
- B738, Mildura VIC Australia, 2013
- B737, Mildura VIC Australia, 2013
- DH8D, Hubli India, 2015
- B734, Lahore Pakistan, 2015
- B738, Katowice Poland, 2007
- DH8C, vicinity Adelaide Australia, 2015
- AT43, vicinity Oksibil Papua Indonesia, 2015
- RJ85, vicinity Medellín International (Rionegro) Colombia, 2016
- SF34, en-route, north of Edinburgh UK, 2017
- GLF5, vicinity Hong Kong China, 2015
- SW4, en-route, North Vancouver BC Canada, 2015
- B733, vicinity Kosrae Micronesia, 2015
- B738, vicinity Chuuk Micronesia, 2018
- A320, vicinity Perth Australia, 2015
- DH8D, vicinity Belfast City UK, 2018
- A332, en-route, mid Atlantic, 2013
- A320, Brasilia Brazil, 2015
- A319, Rio de Janeiro Galeão Brazil, 2017
- SB20, vicinity Billund Denmark, 2015
- B77W, en-route, northeast of Los Angeles USA, 2016
- A333, St Lucia Eastern Caribbean, 2013
- AT75, vicinity Yasouj Iran, 2018
- B738, Manila Philippines, 2018
- B788, vicinity Amritsar India, 2018
- E190, manoeuvring, northeast of Lisbon Portugal 2018
- AT75, en-route, near Almansa Spain, 2017
- A346, en-route, northern Turkey, 2019
- SF34, Savonlinna Finland, 2019
- C560, vicinity Oslo Norway, 2017
- B738, Sochi Russia, 2018
- CRJ2/ATP, Stockholm Sweden, 2011
- B738, en-route, east of Asahikawa Japan, 2010
- SU95, manoeuvring near Jakarta Indonesia, 2012
- B773, en-route, Bay of Bengal, 2011
- B763/DH8D, Fukuoka Japan, 2010
- A332, vicinity Tripoli Libya, 2010
- A320/B734, vicinity London Gatwick UK, 2012
- SF34/SF34, vicinity Stornoway UK, 2011
- B738, vicinity Denpasar Bali Indonesia, 2013
- B734, vicinity Lyon France, 2010
- BE20, vicinity Glasgow UK, 2012
- CL30, en-route, north west of Moscow Russia, 2010
- AS3B, vicinity Sumburgh Airport Shetland Islands UK, 2013
- AT43, vicinity Glasgow, UK 2012
- A343, vicinity Paris CDG France, 2012
- C30J, en-route, northern Sweden 2012
- SB20 / C510, vicinity Lugano Switzerland, 2011
- B738, vicinity Kittilä, Finland 2012
- A319, vicinity Wuxi China, 2010
- AS3B, en-route, northern North Sea UK, 2008
- EC25, vicinity ETAP Central offshore platform, North Sea UK
- B738/B738, vicinity Oslo Norway, 2012
- B732, vicinity Resolute Bay Canada, 2011
- A320/E190/B712, vicinity Helsinki Finland, 2013
- A318/B738, Nantes France, 2010
- MD83, en route, near Gossi Mali, 2014
- A332, en-route, near Dar es Salaam Tanzania, 2012
- DHC6, en-route, Mount Elizabeth Antarctica, 2013
- A343, en-route, mid North Atlantic Ocean, 2011
- Loss of Communication
- Military Interception Signalling
- Visual References
- Level Bust in Holding Patterns
- Aerodynamic Stall Awareness and Avoidance
- Loss of Control
- Recovery from Unusual Aircraft Attitudes
- Basic Controller Techniques: Vectoring
- Midair Collision
- Own Separation
- Uncontrolled Aerodromes - Communications
- Weather Radar
- Use of Personal Electronic Devices (PEDs) on Aircraft
- Flight Instrument Presentation of Aircraft Attitude
- Electrical Problems: Guidance for Controllers
- Continuation Bias
- Pilot Handling Skills
- Engine Failure After Takeoff - Light Twin Engine Aircraft
- Go-around Decision Making
- Communication Failure: Guidance for Controllers
- Inadvertent VFR Flight Into IMC
- Energy Management During Approach
- Approach and Landing Risks
- Continuous Descent Final Approach (CDFA)
- Area Minimum Altitude (AMA)
- Runway Arrestor Gear Systems
- Go-Around
- In-Flight Icing
- Runway Overrun After Unstabilised Approach (OGHFA SE)
- Uncontrolled Aerodromes - Procedures
- CFIT After Aborted VOR-DME Approach (OGHFA SE)
- Helicopter Performance Based Navigation
- HEMS Safety Risks
- Incorrect use of TCAS Traffic Display
- Press-on-itis (OGHFA BN)
- Risk-based Oversight
- Skill Fade
- Spatial Disorientation
- TCAS RA Not Followed
- Visual Illusions
- Weather Radar: Storm Avoidance
- Unstabilised Approach: Vectoring into Short Final Distances
- General Aviation (GA)
- AT76, en-route, near Førde Airport Norway, 2016
- Contribution of Unstabilised Approaches to Aircraft Accidents and Incidents
- Stabilised Approach
- CRJ2 / Vehicles, Montréal Canada, 2019
- CL60, en-route, southwest of Shahr-e-Kord Iran, 2018
- A321, Glasgow UK, 2019
- B763, en-route, east southeast of Houston TX USA, 2019
- AT76, vicinity Al Hoceima Morocco, 2018
- A343, Bogotá Colombia, 2017 (2)
- B735, vicinity Madrid Barajas Spain, 2019
- A320, Calicut India, 2019
- A320 / E145, vicinity Barcelona Spain, 2019
- E170 / Vehicles, Toronto Canada, 2019
- C56X, Aarhus Denmark, 2019
- B788, en-route, Chengde China, 2019
- IL76 / B741, en-route, west of Delhi India, 1996
- S92, vicinity of Offshore Platform east southeast of Halifax Canada, 2019
- S92, manoeuvring, near Shipston-on-Stour UK, 2019
- DH8D, en-route, east northeast of Accra Ghana, 2018
- Shallow fog: Guidance for flight crews
- S92, manoeuvring, near Black Rock Western Ireland, 2017
- The FIS Officer
