092 IFR Communications topic guide
IFR Radio Failure Procedures
A complete two-way communication failure does not leave a pilot without a plan. It puts them onto one of two published procedures, chosen by the weather the aircraft is actually in, and each procedure exists so that air traffic control can keep predicting where the aircraft will be even though it can no longer talk to it.
The exam rewards knowing the sequence cold: what to try first, what code to squawk, and then which of two entirely different follow-on behaviours applies once the immediate checks are done. Confusing the two branches, or borrowing a detail from one while flying the other, is where almost every mark on this topic is lost.
First actions, before choosing a branch
The first response to silence on the radio is mechanical, not procedural: check the obvious causes. Confirm the volume and headset connections, confirm the selected frequency is correct, and try selecting another frequency for the same unit or a different station that might relay for you. Throughout this, transmit in the blind on the assumption that your transmitter still works even though your receiver does not, since one-way failures are common and a controller hearing a blind call can already start protecting your position.
Squawk 7600 as soon as the failure is recognised. This single action is what lets the controller distinguish a genuine communication failure from an aircraft that has simply gone quiet, and it is the trigger for the controller to begin applying their own side of the same procedure you were taught, clearing other traffic away from where you are expected to be.
The VMC branch: continue visually
If the aircraft is in visual meteorological conditions, or enters them, the procedure is deliberately simple: continue in VMC and land at the nearest suitable aerodrome. There is no level-holding or timing convention to apply here, because a pilot who can see outside is already able to remain clear of terrain and other traffic without ATC's help, and prolonging an instrument-style procedure in good weather would only delay getting the aircraft safely on the ground.
The IMC branch: fly the plan the controller expects
In instrument conditions, the aircraft has no such visual safety net, so the procedure instead makes the aircraft behave exactly as the controller was already told to expect. The pilot maintains the last assigned speed and level, or the applicable minimum flight altitude if that is higher, for a defined period after the failure or after passing the next compulsory reporting point. That period is commonly taught as twenty minutes in a procedural, non-radar environment and seven minutes where the flight is under radar surveillance; treat these as the commonly examined figures, since the exact interval that applies depends on the airspace and rules in force.
After that period, the pilot proceeds according to the filed flight plan, in level and route, to the destination navaid, and then commences the approach at, or as close as possible to, the expected approach time if one has been given, or the estimated time calculated from the flight plan. Every element of this, the level, the route, and the timing, exists to reproduce the picture ATC already holds on paper, so that other traffic can be kept clear of a path the aircraft is still flying even though it cannot be heard.
Worked example
Worked example: a radio failure in IMC
An IFR flight is in IMC at FL110, its last assigned level, operating in a procedural, non-radar environment. Two-way communication fails five minutes before a compulsory reporting point, with no other guidance in the clearance and FL110 already above the minimum flight altitude for the route. What should the pilot do?
- AClimb immediately to the minimum flight altitude and remain there until landing
- BMaintain FL110, squawk 7600, continue past the reporting point for twenty minutes on the current routing, then proceed via the flight plan to the destination navaid and commence the approach at the expected or estimated approach time
- CContinue for seven minutes past the reporting point before switching to the flight-plan routing
- DDescend and attempt to land at the nearest suitable aerodrome regardless of cloud
Show the answer and walkthrough
Correct answer: B
- A. This assumes a climb is always required. The rule is to maintain the last assigned level or the minimum flight altitude, whichever is higher, and FL110 already satisfies that here, so no climb is needed.
- B. Correct. This is the IMC branch: hold the last assigned level and route for the procedural interval, then fly the filed plan through to the approach.
- C. Seven minutes is the commonly examined radar-environment figure. This flight is in a procedural, non-radar environment, so applying the shorter interval risks amending course too early.
- D. This is the VMC action applied to an aircraft that is explicitly in IMC. Without visual conditions, the pilot has no way to safely improvise a descent and approach outside the published procedure.
Step by step
- Confirm the environment: procedural, non-radar, so the applicable interval is the twenty-minute figure rather than the seven-minute radar figure, ruling out C.
- Confirm the branch: the aircraft is in IMC, so the VMC action of continuing visually and landing nearest does not apply, ruling out D.
- Compare the last assigned level against the minimum flight altitude: FL110 is already the higher of the two, so no climb is required, ruling out A.
- Apply the IMC sequence: maintain level and route for the defined interval past the reporting point, then fly the filed plan to the destination navaid and commence the approach at the expected or estimated time.
- Keep 7600 selected throughout, since that is what allows the controller to protect the same predicted path the pilot is now flying blind.
Common mistakes
Applying the VMC action while still describing IMC in the stem
If the aircraft cannot see outside, continuing visually and picking a nearest aerodrome is not an option that exists yet; doing so on paper answers a question the stem never asked and throws away the mark.
Using the wrong interval for the environment
Mixing up the procedural and radar figures moves the point at which the aircraft is meant to leave its last assigned level and route, which in the exam is exactly the detail the distractors are built around.
Forgetting to keep squawking 7600 or to transmit in the blind
Both actions cost the pilot nothing but silence, yet they are what let the controller confirm the failure and continue protecting the aircraft's position; leaving them out is a frequently tested omission even when the rest of the procedure is right.
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Last reviewed July 2026