Visual meteorological conditions

In aviation, visual meteorological conditions (VMC) is an aviation flight category in which visual flight rules (VFR) flight is permitted—that is, conditions in which pilots have sufficient visibility to fly the aircraft maintaining visual separation from terrain and other aircraft. They are the opposite of instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). The boundary criteria between IMC and VMC are known as the VMC minima and are defined by: visibility, cloud ceilings (for takeoffs and landings), and cloud clearances.1,500 m flight visibility, clear of cloud and in sight of the surfaceClear of cloud and in sight of surface with a flight visibility of 5000mDay: Clear of Cloud. 2 statute miles for fixed wing, 1 statute mile for helicopterNight: Clear of Cloud. 3 statute miles visibility.Day: 2000 feet horizontally, 500 feet vertically from cloud. 1 statute mile visibilityNight: 2000 feet horizontally, 500 feet vertically from cloud. 3 statute miles visibility1 mile horizontally, 500 feet vertically from cloud. 3 statute miles visibility.Maintain at least 500 feet AGL except when taking off or landing.VFR flight prohibited in Class A airspace.Day: 1 statute mile visibility, 500 feet below, 1000 feet above, and 2000 feet horizontally from clouds (except as provided for in §91.155, paragraph (b))Night: 3 statute miles, 500 feet below, 1000 feet above, and 2000 feet horizontally from clouds (except as provided for in §91.155, paragraph (b))Day or Night: 5 statute miles, 1000 feet below, 1000 feet above, and 1 statute mile horizontally from clouds (except as provided for in §91.155, paragraph (b)) In aviation, visual meteorological conditions (VMC) is an aviation flight category in which visual flight rules (VFR) flight is permitted—that is, conditions in which pilots have sufficient visibility to fly the aircraft maintaining visual separation from terrain and other aircraft. They are the opposite of instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). The boundary criteria between IMC and VMC are known as the VMC minima and are defined by: visibility, cloud ceilings (for takeoffs and landings), and cloud clearances. The exact requirements vary by type of airspace, whether it is day or night (for countries that permit night VFR), and from country to country. Typical visibility requirements vary from one statute mile to five statute miles (many countries define these in metric units as 1,500 m to 8 km). Typical cloud clearance requirements vary from merely remaining clear of clouds to remaining at least one mile away (1,500 m in some countries) from clouds horizontally and 1,000 feet away from clouds vertically. For instance, in Australia, VMC minima outside controlled airspace are clear of cloud with 5,000 m visibility below 3,000 ft AMSL or 1,000 ft AGL (whichever is higher), and 1,000 ft vertical/1,500 m horizontal separation from cloud above these altitudes or in controlled airspace. Above 10,000 ft, 8,000 m visibility is required to maintain VMC. Air traffic control may also issue a 'special VFR' clearance to VFR aircraft, to allow departure from a control zone in less than VMC – this reduces the visibility minimum to 1,600 m. Generally, VMC requires greater visibility and cloud clearance in controlled airspace than in uncontrolled airspace. In uncontrolled airspace there is less risk of a VFR aircraft colliding with an instrument flight rules (IFR) aircraft emerging from a cloud, so aircraft are permitted to fly closer to clouds. An exception to this rule is class B airspace, in which ATC separates VFR traffic from all other traffic (VFR or IFR), which is why in class B airspace lower cloud clearance is permitted. The following minima apply in Europe and the UK.