Maybe it’s because the long Midwestern winter is not yet over, but the idea that approach procedures are like snowflakes comes to mind. From a broad view, they’re all the same with minimum weather requirements, descents, altitude restrictions, and missed approaches. But, up close, no two are alike. Such is the case during a short diversion from Iowa, across the frozen Mississippi to Wisconsin, in the region where subzero temperatures are, well, all too common in winter.
An Alternate Day
After flying the missed approach at Decorah, Iowa (KDEH) due to low ceilings and visibility, it’s on to La Crosse, Wisconsin (KLSE), the alternate we’d carefully researched and filed from the warm comfort of our kitchen table. Wintry northwest winds prevail today, so we’ll brief for the RNAV 31. The conditions at both Decorah and La Crosse turned out to be lower than anticipated, but La Crosse is clearly an improvement over Decorah. There, you had LNAV minimums of 1580-1 for the RNAV 29. The broken ceiling was, from what little you could see of the ground, lower than 400 feet and the visibility wasn’t quite the required mile to legally (or comfortably) attempt the landing.
