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SVFR Changes (2000)
FARs 91.155(d) and 91.157 have changes to allow pilots at a satellite airport in controlled airspace where visibility conditions exceed minimums for departures under SVFR even though no weather reporting capability exists.
SVFR 1998 change
AIM 4-4-5 makes pilot responsible to get ASOS and AWOS weather and to advise ATC of intentions.
When SVFR
1) A SVFR (or an IFR) clearance is necessary to operate an aircraft beneath a ceiling within a surface area when the ceiling is less than 1,000 feet or the visibility is less than three miles,
2) A SVFR clearance can be issued to anyone requesting one if the visibility is at least one mile
3) A helicopter can be issued a SVFR clearance when the visibility is less than one mile.
4) ATC can authorize SVFR operations for aircraft operating in or transiting a surface area when the primary airport is reporting VFR but the pilot advises that basic VFR cannot be maintained. (This would be when visibility say at 2000' AGL is less than three.)
5) In SVFR conditions ATC has special restrictions that allow only one IFR aircraft in the airspace at a time, unless visual contact is established between the aircraft.. Approved separation must be applied between SVFR aircraft and between SVFR and IFR aircraft. Visual separation is one type of separation, but not the only type.
The first requisite for SVFR is knowledge. You must know the FARs, you must know the area, and you must know your own capabilities. SVFR flight can only be flown with a Class B Honolulu) C, D, or E clearance. Helicopters can get Class B SVFR even no SVFR is allowed for airplanes. Students are NOT allowed to request or fly in SVFR conditions. You can tell when a daytime airport is below VFR minimums and requiring SVFR or IFR clearances by noting if the airport rotating beacon is rotating. You must interpret the weather from the ATIS. The ATIS will not tell you that SVFR is needed. The controllers will not tell you to ask for SVFR. Only by listening to the ceiling and visibility can you determine that the airport, in at least one of the two factors, is below VFR. Note: SVFR for helicopters has lower minimums.
A SVFR clearance can only be given when ceilings are less than 1000 feet or visibility is less than three miles but the one mile is determined by a qualified weather observer. In SVFR conditions ATC has special restrictions that allow only one aircraft in the airspace at a time, unless visual contact is established between the aircraft. This contact may be by ATC having seen both aircraft or one aircraft seeing the other and accepting avoidance responsibility. An IFR aircraft either arriving or departing has priority use of Class C, D, or E airspace before SVFR aircraft. This means that when an IFR aircraft is inbound to the airspace or inside the airspace no SVFR aircraft will be allowed to enter or leave until ATC has visual with the IFR aircraft. If an IFR aircraft is departing SVFR aircraft will be told to remain above specific altitudes or clear of the airspace. If a number of IFR departures or arrivals occur in sequence this can be quite a while.
Conditions do not have to be below VFR minima to obtain a SVFR clearance, ATC can authorize SVFR operations for aircraft operating in or transiting a surface area when the primary airport is reporting VFR but the pilot advises that basic VFR cannot be maintained.
Special VFR allows pilots to fly in Marginal-VFR or worse conditions. There is no guarantee that you will be able to do this without getting into trouble. You still can't fly in the clouds...but you can fly a lot closer than in VFR conditions and in much lower visibility. This allows VFR traffic in and out of D and C airspace when the weather is bad. SVFR lets you go from uncontrolled airspace to a landing at an airport with Class D airspace by adjusting the allowable minimums.
Had a student held for five minutes before being cleared for takeoff. Went up to the tower later and found that the field had gone down to 'basic'. Basic means that the airport has between 3 to 5 mile visibility with clouds above 1000'. There was a controlled burn about five miles away and conditions were so variable that they held the student for conditions to improve. Even IFR clearances cannot be issued for the visual approach unless visibility is better than three miles and ceiling of 1000'.
Any time ATC says the field is IFR; it is up to the pilot to make the proper request for a clearance. Between IFR and VFR is the contact approach. The pilot must be on an IFR flight, visibility must be one mile and there must be an approach procedure. You can get a contact approach into a Class G airport from a radar facility just by saying, "Airport in sight'. A contact approach is the IFR version of SVFR. The pilot accepts obstacle avoidance responsibility with a contact approach.
You Never Know When You Will Need SVFR
There are only two categories of aviation weather; VFR and below VFR minimums or IFR. Between these two there is an intermediate weather condition that will allow a VFR pilot to fly in special conditions less than VFR but not IFR. This special condition is called SVFR. The VFR pilot flying in SVFR conditions in controlled airspace is required to have a clearance. This clearance limits his flight by requiring one-mile flight visibility and remaining clear of clouds in specific airspace with direction and altitude restrictions.
The airport must have either a ceiling of below 1000 feet and visibility below three miles. Before ATC can give a SVFR clearance there must be on- mile ground visibility. If, for some reason, you do not recognize these conditions from the ATIS ATC will start playing word games with you. You must request SVFR. ATC cannot initiate the flight except by hinting that there may be something 'special' that you would like or something similar.
An additional condition or restriction has to do with IFR traffic. IFR flights have priority. SVFR flights are held outside of controlled airspace occupied by IFR flights. This means that a VFR pilot cannot depart or enter where an IFR flight is in progress. Class B airspace does not authorized SVFR but its flight minimums allow clear of clouds with three-mile-visibility.
A pilot must not request SVFR unless there is a reasonable certainty that SVFR can be maintained. There are some tricky aspects for entering Classes C and D airspace under SVFR. The altitude restriction for SVFR in the airspace clearance may well be higher than the airspace altitudes allowed outside. This situation exists at Concord, CA. Unless you have three-mile visibility outside the 3.1 miles of Class Delta Airspace you must remain below 700'/1200' AGL as the airspace requires. The pilot who has never flown in these situations would be well advised to get some experienced help before doing it for the first time. JFK is an example of what can happen without training.
Interestingly, if you were to look through any number of flight training programs, you would be most unlikely to find SVFR as part of the program. All too many pilots encounter SVFR for the first time alone, inexperienced, and unaware.
When I am called to give a pilot a checkout in a new aircraft I generally try to hit him with, "Have you ever flow SVFR?" Most often they have never been in SVFR conditions and have no plans to get the experience. I do not fly in SVFR conditions, rain, or winds of 30 knots for fun. I do train my students and other pilots in those conditions, however. I do it because, at some point in our careers toward becoming old pilots we may face conditions not of our choosing.
Not too many years ago student pilots could ask for and get SVFR clearances. Bad things happened just often enough so now only pilots can get SVFR. Like IFR, SVFR increases the utility of flying. On occasion, it is possible, safe, and legal to make an airport arrival under SVFR when IFR flights cannot. My personal feeling is that a pilot should be trained in the use of SVFR, not to be used as challenge to weather conditions, but rather, as a parachute through an unplanned condition. SVFR at night is very near an emergency situation. That said here is how to do day SVFR.
The following applies to the S.F. Bay area. Other places may vary in some particulars. Don't let your first SVFR learning experience be without an experienced pilot or instructor.
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