VFR Into IMC: Using Simulation to Improve Weather-Related Decision-Making

Safety-related training policies restrict pilots from encountering challenging weather during flight training. This potentially inhibits the development of critical decision-making skills. To identify gaps in weather-related flight training, high-fidelity weather-simulation was developed to re-create historical weather events. Sixteen visual-only pilots and 16 instrument-rated pilots flew a simulated cross-country flight under visual flight rules in marginally visual weather that encountered instrument conditions. Procedural performance and experience-related demographic factors were analyzed to identify key flight skills and experience that contributed to safe weather-related decisions. Previous experience with actual instrument weather was found to be the only statistically significant demographic predictor of safe performance. Pilots who performed more safely were more likely to use in-cockpit weather information during the flight to detect and avoid instrument weather. Implications of this study and opportunities for future research are discussed.