Definition
A limited ATC service in which radar-equipped facilities provide heading assignments (vectors) to help VFR aircraft locate and proceed toward a destination airport. The service is workload-permitting, advisory in nature, and does not relieve the pilot of the responsibility for terrain and obstacle clearance, traffic avoidance, or maintaining VFR conditions.
Plain English
If you're flying VFR and need help finding an airport, ATC may be able to give you headings to steer that lead you toward it. They'll help when they can, but you still have to see and avoid traffic, stay clear of clouds, and avoid terrain yourself.
Context Anchor
Seen in radar assistance discussions when ATC helps a pilot get toward an airport that will be reached visually, not by an instrument approach.
Derivation
A 'vector' in aviation means a heading assigned by ATC for the pilot to fly. It comes from the Latin 'vehere,' meaning 'to carry'—the same root as 'vehicle.' A vector 'carries' the aircraft in a specific direction.
Why Pilots Care
Provides a direct path out of instrument conditions to a safe landing site when the pilot cannot maintain visual references.
Grounding Statement
Picture ATC giving you headings until the airport is close enough to identify, then you continue only if you can safely see and fly to it.
Intuition Check
Do not assume “vectors” means ATC is taking over the whole arrival. A vector is steering help; the pilot still remains responsible for whether the visual arrival can be made safely.
Example Sentence 1
Unsure of his exact position over unfamiliar terrain, the pilot requested vectors to the nearest VFR airport, and approach gave him a heading of 270.
Example Sentence 2
The radar facility provided vectors to VFR airports along the route as a standard service for pilots operating near marginal weather.