Civil Aviation Act, 2009 (Act No. 13 of 2009)RegulationsCivil Aviation Regulations, 2011Part 91 : General Aviation and Operating Flight RulesSubpart 6 : Rules of the AirDivision Two : Visual flight rules91.06.21 Visibility and distance from cloud |
| (1) | Every VFR flight shall be so conducted that the aircraft is flown with visual reference to the surface by day and to identifiable objects by night and at no time above more than three eighths of cloud within a radius of five nautical miles of such aircraft and— |
| (a) | in the case of aircraft excluding helicopters operating under conditions of visibility and distance from cloud equal to, or greater than, the conditions specified in tables 1 and 2— |
Table 1
Airspace |
Forward Flight visibility |
Distance from clouds |
Ground visibility and ceiling |
Control zones |
Five km |
Horizontally: 600 metres
Vertically: 500 feet |
No air shall take-off from, land at, or approach to land at an aerodrome or fly within the control zone when the ground visibility is less than five km and the ceiling is less than 1 500 feet (1) |
Within an aerodrome traffic zone (which does not also comprise a control zone or part of a control zone) |
Five km |
Horizontally: 600 metres
Vertically: 500 feet |
No aircraft shall take-off from, land at or approach to land at an aerodrome traffic zone when the ground visibility within such aerodrome traffic zone is less than five km and the ceiling is less than 1 500 feet. |
Table 2
In Airspaces other than those specified in Table 1
Airspace class |
Altitude band |
Forward Flight visibility |
Distance from cloud |
C F G |
At and above 10 000 feet above MSL |
8 km |
1 500 m horizontally 1 000 ft vertically |
C F G |
Below 10 000 feet AMSL and above 3 000 ft above MSL, or above 1 000 feet above terrain, whichever is the higher |
5 km |
1 500 m horizontally 1 000 ft vertically |
C |
At and below 3 000 feet above MSL, or 1 000 feet above terrain, whichever is the higher |
5 km |
1 500 m horizontally 1 000 ft vertically |
F G |
5 km |
Clear of cloud and with the surface in sight |
Provided that the minima specified in Table 1 are not applicable when entering or leaving a CTR and the flight has received clearance from an ATSU to operate under Special VFR minima as referred to in regulation 91.06.22.
[Regulation 91.06.21(1)(a) Table 2 substituted by regulation 11(d) of Notice No. R. 3170, GG48228, dated 17 March 2023 (Twenty-Sixth Amendment of the Civil Aviation Regulations, 2023)]
| (b) | in the case of helicopters, under conditions of visibility and distance from cloud equal to, or greater than, those conditions specified in Tables 3 and 4: |
Table 3
Airspace |
Flight visibility |
Distance from clouds |
Ground visibility and ceiling |
Control zones |
5 km |
Horizontally: 300 m
Vertically: Clear of cloud |
Except when operating under a SVFR clearance no helicopter shall take-off from, land at, or approach to land at an aerodrome or fly within the control zone when the ground visibility at the aerodrome concerned is less than 5 000 metres and the ceiling is less than 1 500 ft |
Within an aerodrome traffic zone (which does not also comprise a control zone or part of a control zone) |
5 km |
Horizontally: 300 m
Vertically: Clear of cloud |
No helicopter shall take-off from, land at , or approach to land at an aerodrome or fly within the aerodrome traffic zone when the ground visibility at the aerodrome concerned is less than 5 000 metres and the ceiling is less than 1 500 ft. |
[Regulation 91.06.21(1)(b) Table 3 substituted by regulation 11(e) of Notice No. R. 3170, GG48228, dated 17 March 2023 (Twenty-Sixth Amendment of the Civil Aviation Regulations, 2023)]
Table 4
In Airspaces other than those specified in Table 3
Airspace class |
Altitude band |
Flight visibility |
Distance from cloud |
C F G |
At and above 10 000 feet above MSL |
8 km |
1 500 m horizontally 1 000 ft vertically |
C F G |
Below 10 000 ft AMSL and above 3 000 feet above MSL, or above 1 000 feet above terrain, whichever is the higher |
5 km |
1 500 m horizontally 1 000 ft vertically |
C |
At and below 3 000 feet above MSL, or 1 000 feet above terrain, whichever is the higher |
2 500 m |
1 500 m horizontally 1 000 ft vertically |
F G |
1 500 m unless in accordance with (iii) below |
Clear of cloud and with the surface in sight |
Provided that—
| (i) | the limitations as contained in Table 3 shall not prevent a helicopter from conducting hover-in-ground-effect or hover-taxi operations within the confines of a controlled aerodrome or heliport, if the visibility is not less than 100 m; |
| (ii) | the minima specified in Table 3 are not applicable when a helicopter is entering or leaving a CTR and such flight has received clearance from an ATSU to operate under Special VFR minima as prescribed in regulation 91.06.22; and |
| (iii) | helicopters shall be permitted to operate in less than 1 500 m flight visibility outside of controlled airspace, if manoeuvred at a speed that will give adequate opportunity to observe other traffic or any obstacles in time to avoid collision. |
[Regulation 91.06.21(1)(b) Table 4 substituted by regulation 11(f) of Notice No. R. 3170, GG48228, dated 17 March 2023 (Twenty-Sixth Amendment of the Civil Aviation Regulations, 2023)]
| (2) | VFR flight is not permitted— |
| (a) | at transonic or supersonic speed; or |
| (b) | in Class A airspace. |