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.
