FAR 91.175 lays out exactly when you can descend below MDA and land—or does it? One pilot’s skip of a stepdown inside the FAF while VMC sparked a regs controversy.
The right time to descend
The M.O. of IFR magazine is bringing to daylight all those little corners of instrument flying where the real-world practices differ from the regs, or at least where playing the game a bit differently than you learned in ground school has payoff without jeopardizing safety.
Key Takeaways:
- A pilot's common practice of descending below a published stepdown altitude on an IFR approach while visual with the runway sparked a debate, revealing a conflict between pilot expectations and strict regulatory interpretation.
- Technically, pilots must adhere to all published stepdown altitudes on an instrument approach, even when visual, unless they receive a new clearance (like a visual approach) or cancel their IFR flight plan.
- To safely facilitate a straight-in landing and avoid regulatory violations in such scenarios, pilots are advised to proactively request a visual approach or cancel IFR as soon as the runway is in sight.
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