situation, established procedures are used to regain SA and aircraft control. Pilots must be alert to loss of SA especially  when hampered by a reactive mindset. To regain SA, reassess the situation and work toward understanding what the  problem is. The pilot may need to seek additional information from other sources, such as navigation instruments, other  crewmembers, or ATC.  Some pilots have the misconception that inadvertent instrument meteorological condition (IIMC) does not apply to an IFR  flight. The following examples could cause a pilot to inadvertently encounter IMC.  Inadvertent Instrument Meteorological Condition (IIMC)  Maintaining Aircraft Control  A-4  The pilot must trust the flight instruments concerning the aircraft’s attitude regardless of intuition or visual interpretation.  The vestibular sense (motion sensing by the inner ear) can confuse the pilot. Because of inertia, sensory areas of the  inner ear cannot detect slight changes in aircraft attitude nor can they accurately sense attitude changes that occur at  a uniform rate over time. Conversely, false sensations often push the pilot to believe that the attitude of the aircraft has  changed when in fact it has not, resulting in spatial disorientation.  In situations where the pilot encounters IIMC while conducting an instrument maneuver, the best remedy is immediate  execution of the published missed approach.  The most important concern, along with maintaining aircraft control, is to initiate a climb immediately. An immediate  climb provides a greater separation from natural and manmade obstacles, as well as improve radar reception of the  aircraft by ATC. An immediate climb should be appropriate for the current conditions, environment, and known or  perceived obstacles. Listed below are procedures that can assist in maintaining aircraft control after encountering IIMC  with the most critical action being to immediately announce IIMC and begin a substantial climb while procedures are  being performed. These procedures are performed nearly simultaneously:  Once the crewmembers recognize the situation, they commit to controlling the aircraft by using and trusting flight  instruments. Attempting to search outside the flight deck for visual confirmation can result in spatial disorientation  and complete loss of control. The crew must rely on instruments and depend on crew coordination to facilitate that  transition. The pilot or flight crew must abandon their efforts to establish visual references and fly the aircraft by their  flight instruments.  In order to survive an encounter with IIMC, a pilot must recognize and accept the seriousness of the situation. The pilot  will need to immediately commit to the instruments and perform the proper recovery procedures.  3. After inadvertently re-entering the clouds, the pilot maintains aircraft control, and then maneuvers to the  published holding fix, while contacting ATC. If navigational guidance or pilot SA were lost, the pilot would  then climb to the published MSA (see AIM paragraph 5-4-7c).  2. During a non-precision IAP, the aircraft, in VMC, levels at the MDA just below the overcast. Suddenly, the  aircraft re-enters the overcast because either the pilot was unable to correctly hold his or her altitude and  climbed back into the overcast, or the overcast sloped downward ahead of the aircraft and, while maintaining the correct MDA, the aircraft re-entered the clouds.  1. The aircraft has entered visual meteorological conditions (VMC) during an instrument approach procedure (IAP) and while circling to land encounters IMC.  • Attitude—level wings on the attitude indicator.  • Heading—maintain heading; turn only to avoid known obstacles.  • Power—adjust power as necessary for desired climb rate.  • Airspeed—adjust airspeed as necessary. Complete the IIMC recovery according to local and published regulations and policies.