Instrument rating · ACS IR.VII.D · lesson pack
Approach with Loss of Primary Flight Instruments
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Why this one matters
A failed attitude or heading indicator is dangerous mainly because it fails quietly: a tilting gyro looks like a real bank, and pilots follow it into an upset. Recognizing the failure early, covering it, and flying a simple approach on the remaining instruments is a proven way to land safely.
1 · Know these cold
- •Recognize the failure: instruments disagree, a suction or electrical warning, a red X. Find the odd one out by cross-checking.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Emergency Operations)
- •Cover the failed instrument so it can’t mislead you.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Emergency Operations)
- •Report it to ATC as soon as practical (91.187): your identification, the equipment affected, how much it impairs your IFR capability, and the help you want. Declaring an emergency (91.3) is a separate choice, made when you need priority.(14 CFR 91.187; 91.3)
- •Without the attitude indicator: pitch from the airspeed, altimeter and VSI; bank from the turn coordinator.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Airplane Attitude Instrument Flying)
- •Without the heading indicator: timed standard-rate turns (3° per second; roll out on the turn coordinator when the time is up) and the magnetic compass, read only in straight, level, unaccelerated flight (UNOS in turns, ANDS with speed changes). The turn coordinator is primary for bank; the altimeter is primary for pitch.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Emergency Operations)
- •On glass: a display failure is fixed by reversion (the data moves to the other screen); a sensor failure (AHRS or air data) shows a red X that stays in reversion. Then fly the standby instruments and tell ATC.(Advanced Avionics Handbook (FAA-H-8083-6))
2 · The lesson
Recognizing the failure
- Failure modes depend on the power source. Vacuum: the attitude and heading indicators drift and precess slowly while the suction gauge reads low. Electric: usually a warning flag or an abrupt loss. Check your POH for which gyro runs on which source; don't assume the turn coordinator survives every failure.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Emergency Operations; Your airplane's POH/AFM)
- Electrical failure: electric gyros, the PFD and the radios may go. Shed load per the POH to save the battery.(Your airplane's POH/AFM)
- AHRS or air data failure on glass: red X on attitude, heading, airspeed or altitude. Use the standby instruments.(Advanced Avionics Handbook (FAA-H-8083-6))
- Pitot-static failures affect airspeed and altitude; see the instruments lesson for patterns.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B))
Flying it
- Use the backup: standby attitude, the MFD in reversion, or the turn coordinator and pitot-static instruments.(Advanced Avionics Handbook (FAA-H-8083-6))
- Fly gently: standard-rate turns or less, small pitch changes, and trim.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Emergency Operations)
- The autopilot: disconnect it first. Re-engage only if the POH shows it doesn't use the failed source and it then tracks correctly, with your hand on the disconnect; expect to hand-fly on the checkride.(Advanced Avionics Handbook (FAA-H-8083-6); Your airplane's POH/AFM)
- Choose the simplest approach available, ideally with good weather. A no-gyro approach is a radar procedure (ASR, PAR or vectors): make standard-rate turns the moment ATC says "turn right" or "turn left", stop on "stop turn", and use half-standard rate on final only after ATC tells you to.(AIM 5-4-11)
Managing the workload
- Declare an emergency if you need priority. ATC can clear the way and give you time.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Emergency Operations)
- Prioritize aircraft control; let the radios and charts wait a few seconds. Use every resource (SRM): ATC, the autopilot if trustworthy, a passenger to hold a light or read a frequency.(Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A))
- Expect disorientation: a gyro that tumbled or drifted slowly has already fed you false cues, and the leans are common afterward. Believe the instruments that still work.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B))
Want it all on one page, with scenarios? Read the full lesson.
On the flight
ACS standards
- Advise ATC or the evaluator if unable to comply with a clearance.(Instrument Rating ACS (FAA-S-ACS-8C), IR.VII.D.S1)
- Complete a non-precision instrument approach without the primary flight instruments, to the IR.VI.A standards: before final, altitude ±100 feet, heading ±10°, airspeed ±10 knots; on final, no more than ¾-scale CDI deflection, airspeed ±10 knots, and the MDA +100/-0 feet.(Instrument Rating ACS (FAA-S-ACS-8C), IR.VII.D.S2; IR.VI.A)
- Use single-pilot resource management (or CRM, as appropriate).(Instrument Rating ACS (FAA-S-ACS-8C), IR.VII.D.S3)
What your instructor is watching for
Your instructor watches for quick recognition, covering the failed instrument, a clear call to ATC, and smooth control on the remaining instruments.
3 · Say it out loud
Answer each one out loud, then check yourself and mark how it went.
Remember Recall it
“Without the attitude indicator, which instruments give you pitch and bank?”
Understand Explain why
“Why cover a failed instrument?”
Apply Use it on a flight
“In cloud, the suction gauge reads zero and the attitude indicator starts to tilt. What do you do?”
4 · Common mistakes
Following the failed gyro.
It leads into an upset.
Instead: Cross-check and cover it.
Not telling ATC.
They can’t help.
Instead: Say what failed and what you need.
Steep turns partial panel.
Easy to overbank.
Instead: Standard rate or less.
5 · Quick check
Answer, then reveal. Flag anything you want to see again.
1. Instruments lost in a vacuum failure (typical trainer)?
2. What turn rate on final in a no-gyro approach?
3. How do you turn to a heading with no heading indicator?
4. What do you do with a failed instrument?
5. Who do you tell?
Scenario6. Partial panel and overloaded, ATC asks you to hold. What do you say?
Trained it? Now prove it: practice approach with loss of primary flight instruments out loud with our examiner.
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Connect it
One situation that runs across this lesson and its neighbors in the same ACS area. Decide first, then check.
Connect it · Emergency Operations
In IMC, cleared direct to a fix and told to expect 6,000 feet in 10 minutes, you lose two-way radio. Then your attitude indicator fails too.
What route and altitude do you fly, and how do you shoot the approach? Decide, then see the worked answer
Squawk 7600 and try to get communications back: the previous frequency, a NAVAID's voice frequency, Flight Service or ARINC to relay, or 121.5. If you reach VFR conditions, continue VFR and land as soon as practicable. If not, follow 91.185. Route, as conditional rules, not a priority list: the route assigned in your last clearance; if you were being radar vectored, direct from the point of the failure to the fix, route or airway in the vector clearance; with no assigned route, the route ATC told you to expect; otherwise the filed route. You were assigned direct to the fix, so fly direct. Altitude, segment by segment: the highest of the altitude last assigned, the minimum altitude for IFR operations on the route segment you're flying, and the altitude ATC told you to expect. 'Expect 6,000 in 10 minutes' is an expected altitude with a time, not an EFC: the 6,000 counts only from that time, and only when it's the highest of the three; an expected altitude never takes you lower. Re-check the highest at each new segment. The approach: if your clearance limit is a fix where an approach begins, start it as close as possible to the EFC, or your ETA if you have no EFC. If it isn't, leave the clearance limit at the EFC (or on arrival, without one), proceed to a fix where an approach begins, and start as close as possible to your ETA. The most straightforward approach means the one at your destination you can fly on the instruments you have left, ideally straight-in, with the least maneuvering. You don't get a free choice of airport or approach unless you declare an emergency and use your 91.3(b) authority. With the attitude indicator out, cover it and fly partial panel: the turn coordinator for bank; the altimeter, airspeed and VSI for pitch; the heading indicator, if it's good, and the compass for direction; known power settings and small corrections.
14 CFR 91.3, 91.185; AIM 6-4-1; IFH (FAA-H-8083-15B), Partial Panel
Brings together: Loss of Communications · Approach with Loss of Primary Flight Instrument Indicators
Teaching this? The instructor lesson plan →
Study aid, not FAA guidance. Sources: Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B); Advanced Avionics Handbook (FAA-H-8083-6); Instrument Rating ACS (FAA-S-ACS-8C). Checked against current sources 2026-11-13.