Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Air Safety Institute (ASI) today kicked off a nine-month safety campaign to raise awareness of the risks involved with visual flight rules into instrument meteorological conditions (VFR into IMC) operations. ASI called such flights the most significant cause of weather-related accidents.

 


In addition, noted ASI senior v-p Richard McSpadden, “VFR into IMC is among the top five causes of fatal general aviation accidents, which are largely preventable. And it’s not only VFR pilots who get trapped; about one-third of these accidents involve instrument-rated pilots.”

 


ASI research has found that pilots encounter VFR into IMC conditions every other week on average. Related accidents typically result in a fatality, McSpadden added.

 


“Experience alone is no guard against them. In fact, instrument-rated commercial pilots are twice as likely to be involved in VFR into IMC accidents compared to their non-instrument-rated counterparts,” he said. “Often thought of as a single cause, VFR into IMC plays a role in several other types of accidents, including loss of control in-flight (LOC-I) and controlled flight into terrain (CFIT). “

 


As part of the campaign, which runs through December 31, ASI has developed an <a href="https://aopa.org/Training-and-Safety/Air-Safety-Institute/VFR-into-IMC-Avoidance-and-Escape">online resource center</a> that is packaging videos, courses, podcasts, articles, webinars, studies, and other educational material, events, and programs.

News and information on safety procedures and concerns.

AOPA ASI Launches Safety Campaign on VFR into IMC

ASI, which has found that pilots encounter VFR into IMC conditions on average every other week, is running a safety campaign to raise awareness of risks. 

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