Plain English Meaning

Carrying on with a flight by visual reference even though the weather has gotten bad enough that you can no longer really see where you are going. The pilot keeps flying instead of stopping, turning around, or landing somewhere else.

Full Definition

An operational pitfall in which a pilot operating under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) presses on into weather that has deteriorated below VFR minimums — typically marked by reduced visibility, lowering cloud bases, or both — instead of turning back, diverting, or landing. The pilot ends up flying in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) without the rating, currency, equipment, or required to do so safely and legally.