Your opinions please!
I am an 80hr PPL with a night rating, around 10hrs instrument, including several hours with a safety pilot in the US, flying IFR in genuine IMC, but I have no instrument qualification. Back home in the UK, I decide to make a short navigation trip to keep my skills current.
Conditions aren’t brilliant, but it’s flyable; OVC at 2,000’ and 5 miles visibility, and it’s forecast to improve. The MSA, for arguments sake, is 1,000’. I take off, and fly for around 20 minutes, but conditions are deteriorating, and I’m down to 1,500’ to stay VMC. I decide I’ve had enough, and turn back to go home. To my consternation, I find the cloudbase has been lowering behind me as well, and I soon find myself down at 800’. I can’t see any brighter areas, and I seem to be surrounded by ever-lowering cloud and reducing visibilty.
The nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach tells me I’m in trouble, and I feel I’m losing control of the situation. Would my safest option be:
(a) Squawk 7700, climb above MSA and into IMC, concentrate on flying straight & level, declare a PAN on 121.5 and ask D&D to guide me to an airfield in VMC. I know I’m not instrument qualified but this is fast becoming an emergency, and I’m confident I can manage straight & level in IMC, as well as simple manoeuvres.
(b) Attempt to continue VMC, using known line features (my home airfield is handily placed next to the M25) but knowing there are power transmission lines and high ground on the way, and that there are obstructions rising to 250’AGL ½ a mile off both ends of the main runway.
Fortunately, I’ve never been in this situation, but I do wonder what my actions would be if it did happen. I’ve deliberately left out option (c) – a precautionary landing in a field, as I specifically want to compare the merits of the ‘least worst’ option – scud running under a lowering cloudbase, or deliberate IMC entry when unqualified to do so.
The reason for all this navel gazing is that from recent AAIB reports, I get the impression there are more light aircraft accidents caused by CFIT in marginal VMC, than by people losing control after continuing (at safe altitude) into IMC.
(And yes, I know if I ever got myself into this situation I’d probably be pointed towards some, erm, ‘additional training’ of my flight planning skills!)
Any advice greatly appreciated.