SCENARIO 1 OF 2
A pilot in flight radios in a report of severe turbulence and significant icing they're currently experiencing. How should this PIREP be coded and treated?
Un piloto en vuelo reporta por radio turbulencia severa y engelamiento significativo que está experimentando actualmente. ¿Cómo debería codificarse y tratarse este PIREP?
A quick scenario check — tap the option you think applies, then see why.
Una revisión rápida de escenario — toca la opción que crees que aplica y luego mira por qué.
Explain the purpose of a PIREP, and distinguish an AIRMET from a SIGMET based on which aircraft each is meant to warn.
Forecasts like TAF predict what's expected to happen; PIREPs, AIRMETs, and SIGMETs are how the aviation weather system captures and shares what's actually happening right now — often the most current, real information a pilot can get before a flight.
Teach It / Enséñalo
ENTIENDE
Un PIREP (Reporte de Piloto) es un informe de un piloto que describe las condiciones reales que observó en vuelo. Los PIREP son genuinamente valiosos específicamente porque informan condiciones REALES y observadas de primera mano en lugar de una predicción. Un PIREP RUTINARIO (codificado UA) informa condiciones ordinarias; un PIREP URGENTE (codificado UUA) informa condiciones peligrosas como turbulencia severa, hielo severo, o cizalladura de viento a baja altura. Los AIRMET (Información Meteorológica para Aviadores) advierten sobre clima que es significativo para la aviación en general, pero específicamente peligroso para aeronaves con capacidad más limitada. Hay tres tipos de AIRMET: SIERRA cubre condiciones IFR y oscurecimiento de montañas, TANGO cubre turbulencia y vientos superficiales fuertes, y ZULU cubre hielo y niveles de congelación. Los SIGMET (Información Meteorológica Significativa) advierten sobre clima considerado potencialmente peligroso para TODAS las aeronaves, no solo aquellas con capacidad más limitada.
¿Tiene sentido?
AVIATION WORDS · Palabras de aviación
DILO EN INGLÉS · SAY IT IN ENGLISH
“A PIREP is a pilot's real, first-hand report of actual conditions; an AIRMET warns about weather that's especially hazardous to smaller or less-equipped aircraft; and a SIGMET warns about weather serious enough to matter to every aircraft, regardless of size or equipment.”
Ejemplo guiado
A pilot receives an urgent PIREP reporting severe turbulence at 8,000 feet along their planned route, filed just twenty minutes earlier by another pilot. Since this is a real, first-hand, very recent observation — not a forecast — it carries real weight in the pilot's own go/no-go decision, potentially outweighing an otherwise unremarkable forecast for that altitude and area.
Real Aviation Application / Aplicación real en aviación
Real preflight and inflight weather briefings specifically include current AIRMETs, SIGMETs, and recent PIREPs along a route — and pilots are also specifically encouraged to file their own PIREPs after encountering notable conditions, since the whole system depends on real pilots contributing real, current observations back into it.
Ask Your Teacher / Pregúntale a tu maestro
- How does a pilot actually file a PIREP in flight?
- How often are AIRMETs and SIGMETs updated or reissued?
- Why don't more pilots file PIREPs, if they're this valuable to the whole system?
HAMPTON'S .02 CENTS
This lesson works well as the natural closing point for the entire Weather domain so far — it's worth explicitly connecting PIREPs/AIRMETs/SIGMETs back to METAR (current observation) and TAF (forecast), framing all three information types as parts of one complete weather picture a pilot assembles before and during a flight, not separate, unrelated topics.
Standards Alignment
CLASSROOM: Weather Fundamentals — PIREPs and Advisories
FAA: FAA Aviation Weather Handbook (FAA-H-8083-28), Chapter 22: Aviation Weather Advisories
CERTIFICATION: Private Pilot, Part 107
SOURCES: Aviation Weather Handbook (FAA-H-8083-28)