Missed Approaches

Climbing to hold over an airport to wait for better weather or traffic is nearly always referenced against a VOR that is located on or very close to the airport, so you really cant get lost. Plus, theres at least one runway right below in case of any issues that might develop. Whats more, obstacle clearance is straightforward-poles, towers and trees are only so tall and you dont have to worry about encountering significant terrain rising up from the airport itself.

Elaine Kauh

Tuesday, July 12, 2016 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

While many "climb-in-hold" missed approach procedures are straightforward, some, particularly in complex terrain, contain ambiguous wording or depictions that can lead to dangerous misinterpretations.
The ILS 3 missed approach at Grand Canyon (KGCN) serves as a "gotcha" example, where instructions to "climb to 10000 direct GCN VOR/DME and hold" could be misinterpreted as climbing straight out before entering the hold, risking terrain conflict.
It is critically important for pilots to thoroughly brief all components of an approach, considering the full context, terrain, aircraft performance, and comparing with other airport procedures to avoid misinterpreting instructions.

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Climbing to hold over an airport to wait for better weather or traffic is nearly always referenced against a VOR that is located on or very close to the airport, so you really can’t get lost. Plus, there’s at least one runway right below in case of any issues that might develop.

What’s more, obstacle clearance is straightforward—poles, towers and trees are only so tall and you don’t have to worry about encountering significant terrain rising up from the airport itself. So those missed procedures that require what we know as a climb-in-hold are going to be easy to spot, right? Well, mostly…