VFR into IMC

I rented a Piper Cherokee 140 from Pacific Flight Academy with the old traditional six-pack steam gauges, and my friend Yulia and I left for Maui in the afternoon. Sounds exotic, right? Well, one of the fun parts about flying to Maui is eating at the food trucks. Two groups of food trucks are close to the airport and it’s a lot of fun to fly in, park at the transient parking, and then go out the back gate to grab an Uber or a Lyft and enjoy some great Hawaiian food. This is the $100 hamburger personified, only in Hawaii it’s an ahi or Kalua pork sandwich.

At the time I was a new pilot, but I had learned to fly in Hawaii. I was comfortable flying over the open ocean as well as at night, and I always get flight following when flying VFR over the ocean and any time I leave my home base. Hawaii is truly a beautiful place to fly. The runways are easy to find as they are almost all on the water with no obstructions, and the lights of the islands at night are beautiful.

I had taken with me a close friend who enjoyed flying, and the adventure of a flight and dinner on another island just made it more fun. The flight over was uneventful and the controllers for Honolulu Center and the airports in Hawaii are great to work with. When you fly over to Maui GA you usually fly along the north coast of Molokai and the tallest sea cliffs in the world (4,000-foot sheer drop straight into the ocean) and then around on the north side of Maui. The approach brings you in to land on Runway 5. The scenery is stunning.

The flight was going beautifully, but I was soon to discover that during a new moon, over a dark ocean, clouds are very hard to see until you're in them.After dinner the sun was just beginning to get lower in the sky, so I called the airplane owner to see if he would prefer me to stay the night. “No,” he replied. “The conditions are VMC and I’ve flown with you, but you are PIC, so it’s your call. I support you either way.”

Feeling confident, we got in the airplane. The sun was setting, and as we got ready to take off, I asked to depart to the south because sometimes the winds on the north side of Maui can be challenging. By the time we were off the sun had set and it was a clear, moonless night. The stars were shining, and it’s hard to describe the beauty when you look down at the lights of Lahaina (the original, first capital of Hawaii under King Kamehameha). Then we were handed off to Honolulu Center and climbed to 4,500 feet. I planned to travel in the middle of the channel, and I had flight following.

After rounding Lahaina, I could see the lights of Molokai and Lanai which I was using to mark my position. The flight was going beautifully, but I was soon to discover that during a new moon, over a dark ocean, clouds are very hard to see until you’re in them. So at 4,500 feet, all of a sudden I was in a 100-percent whiteout and could not see outside the cockpit.

I have a renewed respect for how calmly professional pilots communicate with passengers during flight emergencies. Unfortunately for my friend I blurted out “Oh shoot” (only it wasn’t shoot). Fortunately, she didn’t panic. My training kicked in. I knew my position. I was in the middle of the channel—no terrain—and aviate, navigate, communicate was second nature. I descended slowly, and was out of the cloud after only about a 500-foot descent. I could clearly make out the lights of Molokai and Lanai again, but having experienced that flight into a cloud at night I knew I might not be able to see a cloud again, and could easily end up in the same position. I called Honolulu Center and let them know why I was off a VFR altitude, and by that time I could clearly see the lights of Honolulu. As I approached Oahu and got clearance into the Bravo, the lights of Hawaii Kai and Waialae illuminated the cloud cover below me. I informed ATC that I was a VFR pilot and unable to descend to the 2,000-foot altitude required for the arrival, but I could see an opening in the clouds right over the Waialae Golf Course (a normal landmark for departures and arrivals to and from the east). I said I could shoot through that hole but might need some help, and the Honolulu ATC was awesome in helping me out. I communicated the whole way and made it into very clear visual conditions, having never entered a cloud during the approach.

Between that experience and watching the 178 Seconds to Live video from AOPA’s Air Safety Institute, I dove hard into getting my instrument rating so I can truly say, never again will I fly into IMC without the right training. I am happy to report that I got my instrument rating as of this writing, and am building my first airplane with IFR capabilities thanks to my friends at Pacific Flight Academy.

Brian Delamer is a private pilot with an instrument rating.