CFTT Precedes CFIT

IFR separation from other aircraft is well-understood in our community. Within the controller community there is something additional called terrain separation. A loss of terrain separation occurs when an aircraft enters a chunk of airspace at an altitude below the prescribed minimums. Minimum vectoring (or instrument) altitudes arent published, so initially theyre the controllers responsibility. Busting either is CFTT, but they are not the sole province of ATC. Pilots also cause CFTTs. Lets look in our own house first.

Fred Simonds

Monday, January 21, 2019 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Controlled Flight Toward Terrain (CFTT) is a critical precursor to CFIT accidents, emphasizing that preventing CFTT conditions is essential for aviation safety.
Pilots often cause CFTT due to factors such as complacency, target fixation, stress, unfamiliarity with procedures or avionics, and poor judgment, frequently leading to altitude busts or dangerous approach decisions.
Air Traffic Controllers also contribute to CFTT through incorrect clearances, missing critical pilot readbacks, misidentifying aircraft, and failing to provide timely safety alerts, often resulting in aircraft descending below minimum vectoring altitudes (MVAs).
A primary underlying cause of CFTT incidents, whether initiated by pilots or controllers, is poor communication, especially concerning the accurate readback and hearback of altitude assignments.

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Wedged between normal and CFIT flight sits another layer, the precursor to a CFIT accident, called Controlled Flight Toward Terrain, or CFTT. If we can avoid CFTT conditions, we can surely prevent deadly CFIT accidents. Our purpose here is to educate and sensitize the pilot community to the concept of CFTT using examples from the Aviation Safety Reporting System database.

IFR separation from other aircraft is well-understood in our community. Within the controller community there is something additional called terrain separation. A loss of terrain separation occurs when an aircraft enters a chunk of airspace at an altitude below the prescribed minimums. Minimum vectoring (or instrument) altitudes aren’t published, so initially they’re the controller’s responsibility. Busting either is CFTT, but they are not the sole province of ATC. Pilots also cause CFTTs. Let’s look in our own house first.