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SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/ifr-lostcomm-vfr

You lose radios in IFR conditions, then reach VFR conditions. What does 91.185 say?

Continue under VFR and land as soon as practicable.

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  1. Continue under VFR and land as soon as practicable ✔
  2. Resume the filed IFR route to the destination
  3. Climb to VFR on top and continue

Why: 91.185(b) says if you lose communications in VFR conditions, or reach VFR conditions after, you continue under VFR and land as soon as practicable. This applies unless ATC authorizes something else.

Huh, didn't know that: The AIM says 'land as soon as practicable' does not mean 'as soon as possible,' and you need not land only minutes short of your destination.

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Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground incapable of understanding it.
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References

Answer: Continue under VFR and land as soon as practicable. 91.185(b) says if you lose communications in VFR conditions, or reach VFR conditions after, you continue under VFR and land as soon as practicable. This applies unless ATC authorizes something else.

  1. 14 CFR 91.185 IFR operations: two-way radio communications failure www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/91.185
    land as soon as practicable
    Checked 2026-10-10.
  2. AIM 6-4-1 Two-way Radio Communications Failure www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/aim_html/chap6_section_4.html
    it is not intended that the requirement to "land as soon as practicable" be construed to mean "as soon as possible."
    Checked 2026-10-10.

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