You Are Flying VFR and Your Radios Completely Fail — What Does 91.185 Require?

What 91.185 Actually Says About VFR Radio Failure

Losing your radios in flight sounds terrifying, but 14 CFR 91.185 gives you a clear, logical framework for handling it. The regulation splits lost communications procedures into two distinct categories: VFR conditions and IFR conditions. If you are flying VFR when your radios fail, the rule is straightforward — continue flight under VFR and land as soon as practicable. That single sentence carries a lot of meaning, and unpacking it correctly is exactly what your designated pilot examiner will be listening for on checkride day.

The most important word in that rule is practicable. It does not mean immediately, and it does not mean the nearest patch of flat ground. Practicable means a suitable airport — one where you can land safely and legally, with appropriate facilities. In most cases, that means continuing to your planned destination or diverting to a nearby airport if one is more convenient. Declaring a full emergency and putting the airplane down in a field because your radio quit is not what this regulation envisions, and a good examiner will push back hard if you suggest otherwise.

The First Thing You Should Do: Squawk 7600

Before you think about where to land, your immediate action should be setting your transponder to squawk 7600. This is the universally recognized code for a communications failure, and it alerts ATC radar controllers that you have lost radio contact. Many student pilots freeze on this point during oral exams, either forgetting the code entirely or confusing it with 7700, which is the general emergency code. Squawking 7600 is not optional — it is the primary way you alert the system that something has changed, and it triggers a coordinated response from ATC facilities tracking your flight.

Once you are squawking 7600, ATC will begin working around you. Controllers can issue NOTAMs, hold other traffic, and coordinate between facilities — all without being able to talk to you directly. The system is designed to accommodate a lost-comms aircraft, but only if ATC knows you are out there and understands your situation. Your transponder is the tool that makes that possible.

Arriving at a Controlled Airport Without a Radio

Here is where many student pilots reveal a gap in their knowledge: they know about squawking 7600, but they have no idea what happens when they actually arrive at a towered airport. The answer is light gun signals, and knowing them cold is non-negotiable for your checkride.

When you are inbound to a controlled airport with no radio, the tower controller will direct a light gun — a focused, colored beam — at your aircraft. Each color and pattern means something specific:

• Steady green — cleared to land
• Flashing green — return for landing (used when you are in the pattern or nearby)
• Steady red — give way to other aircraft and continue circling
• Flashing red — airport unsafe, do not land
• Flashing white — return to starting point on the airport
• Alternating red and green — exercise extreme caution

You acknowledge these signals during the day by rocking your wings, and at night by flashing your landing light or navigation lights. This two-way communication system may feel primitive, but it works — and ATC will clear the traffic pattern to accommodate you once they confirm you are inbound. After you land and taxi in, continue watching for light gun signals because ground control will use the same system to direct your taxi.

Do Not Confuse VFR and IFR Lost Comms Procedures

This is the mistake that separates well-prepared candidates from the ones who get sent home to study. The IFR lost communications procedure under 91.185 is a completely different animal — it involves complex rules about which route to fly, which altitude to maintain, and when to begin an approach based on expected clearance times and filed flight plans. Those procedures exist because an IFR pilot in the clouds without a radio faces a fundamentally different and more dangerous situation than a VFR pilot who can see the ground and navigate visually.

If your examiner asks about a VFR radio failure and you start reciting the IFR AVE F rule — Assigned, Vectored, Expected, Filed — you have answered the wrong question entirely. Keep the two scenarios clearly separated in your mind. VFR lost comms is simple: stay VFR, squawk 7600, watch for light gun signals, and land as soon as practicable at a suitable airport. IFR lost comms is a separate, more detailed procedure covered in its own section of 91.185.

Understanding these distinctions with precision, and being able to explain them calmly under pressure, is exactly the standard your checkride demands. If you want to practice questions like this in a realistic oral exam format, try SimulatedCheckride.com.