AIM ¶ 7-6-3 — VFR Congested Areas
AIM 7-6-3 explains how VFR pilots can reduce midair collision risk near busy airports by monitoring approach control and requesting radar traffic advisories.
AIM 7-6-3 highlights a critical safety statistic: most near midair collisions happen below 8,000 feet AGL and within 30 miles of an airport. That's the airspace where VFR traffic, IFR arrivals, and pattern work all converge — so situational awareness matters most here.
The AIM recommends (this is advisory, not a regulation) that VFR pilots — whether landing at a nearby field or just transiting — do the following in congested areas:
- Maintain extra vigilance for traffic (eyes outside).
- Monitor an appropriate control frequency, typically the local approach control frequency.
- Request radar traffic advisories from approach control when workload allows.
Monitoring approach lets you build a mental picture of who's where, even if you're not receiving services. If the controller has radar and the workload permits, they can call traffic for you on request — a service formally described in AIM 4-1-15 (Radar Traffic Information Service). Used together, these habits dramatically reduce your collision risk in the busiest slice of the National Airspace System.