Plain English Meaning

Telling ATC you no longer need to be on your IFR flight plan. Once you cancel, ATC stops providing IFR services and you continue under visual flight rules — or, if you have already landed at a non-towered airport, you are simply closing out the flight plan so no one launches a search for you.

Full Definition

The pilot action of formally closing an active IFR flight plan with Air Traffic Control, terminating IFR services and the associated ATC clearance. Cancellation can occur airborne once the flight is in VMC and outside Class A airspace, or on the ground after landing at an airport without an . At a , automatically closes the IFR flight plan; no separate cancellation is required.