Wheres that Runway?

Its the end of a long day filled of uncooperative weather, ground stops, and a diversion tossed in to make it interesting. Youre shooting the non-precision (of course) GPS approach, and upon reaching minimums, you look up and see … nothing. Wait a minute! Isnt that a PAPI glowing out of the left side of your window? Is that your runway? If so, whats it doing all the way over there?

IFR Staff

Sunday, March 11, 2018 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Pilots often experience disorientation at minimums because the runway appears significantly off-center, even on "straight-in" approaches, due to designed final approach course offsets.
These offsets, which can be up to 30 degrees for non-precision approaches, are typically for obstacle avoidance or terrain, and may not always be explicitly noted on older charts.
Strong crosswinds further compound the problem by creating a "crab angle," causing the runway to appear even more off-center than the designed approach path suggests.
To mitigate disorientation, pilots should brief the expected sight picture by comparing the final approach course to the runway heading and using the airport diagram to visualize the runway's anticipated location upon breakout.

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It’s the end of a long day filled of uncooperative weather, ground stops, and a diversion tossed in to make it interesting. You’re shooting the non-precision (of course) GPS approach, and upon reaching minimums, you look up and see … nothing. Wait a minute! Isn’t that a PAPI glowing out of the left side of your window? Is that your runway? If so, what’s it doingall the way over there?

This was the experience that a reader shared with us about flying the GPS RWY 12R approach into the North Las Vegas airport (KVGT). (See Readback, “Not There, but Over There.)”