How is PlaneWX different from my EFB or aviationweather.gov?

Your EFB is excellent for charts, filing, and day-of flying. Aviationweather.gov and Flight Service (including 1800WXBRIEF) give you official weather products. PlaneWX sits beside those tools. It does not replace them. What PlaneWX adds is decision support days out: a WX Score matched to your aircraft and personal minimums, a dynamic FRAT on the FAA PAVE framework, and mentors who see the same briefing you see. You can also share a flight plan into PlaneWX from a supported EFB. You stay PIC. Charts, filing, and official sources stay where they belong.

Is the briefing accurate?

Your briefing uses the same official observations and forecasts every pilot relies on: METARs, TAFs, PIREPs, SIGMETs and model guidance. It can only be as accurate as those forecasts, and every forecast carries some uncertainty. Every weather briefing, from any provider, also has the same built-in limit. It describes one departure time, one route, one altitude and one arrival time. Real flights change. You leave late, get rerouted, or get assigned a different altitude, and each change puts you in weather the briefing didn't look at. That's why PlaneWX can keep updating your briefing for monitored flights as the forecast changes, and why your decision-making continues in the air.

How can I make my briefing more accurate?

Enter the flight the way you'll really fly it: a realistic departure time, the route you expect to file or be cleared, your planned altitude, and the right aircraft profile. If any of those change, update the trip and brief again. Check again close to departure, when the forecasts are freshest.

Yes, in specific places. Weather reports, forecasts, model data and NOTAMs are fetched and decoded by code. AI reads forecaster discussions and writes the plain-language briefing, the hazard summary and most section ratings. It also proposes a starting WX Score and some deductions, such as for convection. Ceiling and visibility are always scored by code. Within 12 hours of departure, your personal minimums and aircraft limits are checked by rule-based code, not the AI. Further out, AI also helps weigh icing and turbulence against your limits. You always make the final call.

What is the WX Score?

The WX Score is a 0-100% metric calculated against YOUR personal minimums and your specific aircraft, not generic VFR/IFR categories. It tells you, in a single number, how well conditions are expected to match your standards. Every deduction is transparent and explained.

What is the PAVE framework?

PAVE is the FAA risk framework: Pilot, Aircraft, enVironment, and External pressures. It is the structure behind a serious preflight risk assessment, not a weather product by itself. We walk through it in plain language in our PAVE risk assessment guide. PlaneWX FRAT uses that same framework as a living sit-down assessment near departure. See how PlaneWX FRAT works, including how the briefing and airport context feed the enVironment side.

How far in advance can PlaneWX forecast weather?

PlaneWX provides weather intelligence from 14 days out through departure. Confidence improves as your flight approaches. We are transparent about uncertainty at every time horizon.

What is the mentor system?

PlaneWX connects you with experienced pilots who can review your full briefing (WX Score, aircraft profile, personal minimums) and offer a second set of eyes grounded in shared data, not guesswork. Mentor sits alongside the risk-management loop when you want it.

Is there a free plan?

Yes. Free forever includes full-quality briefings. We limit how much you can use PlaneWX, not how good the analysis is. Details on plans and what each tier includes are in PlaneWX Plans help.

What's the difference between Casual, Pro, and Pro Plus?

Casual is for pilots who fly a few times a month and want auto-monitoring. Pro raises limits and automation. Pro Plus adds Ground Protection, Auto-Brief, Pre-Flight Text, briefed fuel stops, and Labs. Compare current limits and features in Plans help, or start from the pricing section on this page. Personal minimums still drive the WX Score on every plan. If you are setting those for the first time, see personal minimums for weather planning.

What happens after the 14-day free trial?

You keep access on Free, or choose Casual, Pro, or Pro Plus. No card is required to start the trial. Plan details stay in Plans help.

Decision-MakingLast reviewed 2026-10-02

In Too Deep: A VFR Pilot Turns Away From a Cleared Runway

A 207-hour private pilot without an instrument rating found his destination gone IFR, was cleared to land anyway, and turned away to avoid getting stuck. Minutes later his Cirrus SR20 spiraled into the ground near Crystal Lake, Illinois. Based on the AOPA Air Safety Institute case study and the NTSB final report, a look at taking the out you're given.

Weather that was fine when you planned can be gone by the time you arrive. When that happens, the safest runway is usually the one in front of you, even if landing there wrecks the rest of the day.

The AOPA Air Safety Institute (ASI) re-creates this flight in its video "Accident Case Study: In Too Deep," which you can watch below. The summary that follows is ours and is based on the NTSB final report (CEN12FA083), which also gives the official probable cause. Watch the full case study for ASI's own analysis.

AOPA Air Safety Institute: Accident Case Study: In Too Deep — Video: AOPA Air Safety Institute, Accident Case Study: In Too Deep.

The flight, in short

On November 26, 2011, a private pilot with about 207 hours and no instrument rating left Marion, Indiana in a Cirrus SR20 with three passengers, headed for DuPage Airport (DPA) west of Chicago. He flew VFR with no flight plan. Before departure he told the line service representative he was aware of the weather west of Chicago and that conditions were forecast to be VFR when they arrived.

They weren't. DuPage had been marginal VFR and dropped to IFR about an hour before the accident, with an overcast around 900 feet and visibility falling in light rain and mist. The pilot called the DuPage tower and was told the airport was IFR. About 30 seconds later he said he had flown over the airport by mistake. The controller cleared him to reverse course and land, and he acknowledged.

Then he lost sight of the airport and asked about another field with better visibility because he didn't “want to get in there and get stuck all day.” He told the controller he was “in and out of the clouds,” and when asked if he was IFR qualified, he said he was in “IFR training and I've let this get around me.” Chicago approach gave him nearby airports reporting VFR, and he said he'd go to Chicago Executive. About seven minutes later he changed his mind, saying he didn't “want to mess with the weather” and didn't “want to get stuck in here.”

Radar showed a gentle right turn that tightened into a steep spiral. Witnesses heard what sounded like aerobatics in the clouds, then saw the airplane come out steeply nose down before it hit the ground near Crystal Lake. All four people aboard were killed. The examination found nothing wrong with the airplane.

The NTSB determined the probable cause to be: “The noninstrument-rated pilot's decision to continue flight in instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in the pilot’s spatial disorientation and loss of control of the airplane.”

Why turning away matters

This pilot had a runway and a landing clearance, then a VFR airport and a controller helping him get there. Each time, the worry about being stuck on the ground won out over the risk of staying in the clouds. Being weathered in is an inconvenience. Staying in IMC without the training for it is the thing that kills.

“In and out of the clouds” means you are already in instrument conditions. Act on it then.
Take the out you're given. A cleared runway or a VFR alternate beats a better plan you haven't reached yet.
Decide before you leave what you'll do if the destination goes IFR, and where you'll go instead.
Tell ATC plainly that you're a VFR pilot in the clouds and need help. Controllers can only work with what you tell them.

Putting it into practice

Why it matters

A forecast is a starting point, not a promise, and arrival weather can change while you're on the way. Planning your alternate on the ground makes it easier to take it in the air. PlaneWX never recommends GO or NO‑GO. The pilot makes the call.

Decision loop

1Weather Briefing
2FRAT
3GO / NO-GO
4Self Debrief

Mentor is an optional layer on any step, not a fifth stage.

Tool or habit

Set ceiling and visibility personal minimums that match your rating and experience, and let the WX Score check every briefing against them. Use the FRAT, which opens 4 hours before departure, to name your alternate and to be honest about external pressure to get there. You record your own GO / NO‑GO decision.

Sources

PlaneWX complements FAA and Flight Service weather products. PlaneWX is decision support. It is not a substitute for your full preflight briefing (for example a standard briefing through Flight Service or your EFB).