Diverse Vector Areas

Imagine youre departing into a low overcast, and the tower assigned you a heading. ATC has some way to keep you from hitting anything on that vector, right? Yeah…sorta.

Diverse Vector Areas (DVAs) have been established at some larger airports for a safe and standardized way to guarantee obstacle clearance for aircraft departing on radar vectors. DVAs have been surveyed and found to be clear of obstructions on a standard-or published non-standard-climb gradient. Theyve recently started to appear in the terminal procedures publication.

Editorial Staff

Tuesday, February 10, 2015 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Diverse Vector Areas (DVAs) are published, TERPS-validated zones at some airports that guarantee obstacle clearance for aircraft on radar vectors below the Minimum Vectoring Altitude (MVA), provided pilots comply with specific climb criteria.
At airports without published DVAs, ATC provides departure vectors below the MVA using less rigorously analyzed methods (e.g., limited radar obstacle display, local procedures) compared to DVAs or Obstacle Departure Procedures (ODPs).
Pilots are responsible for obstacle clearance until vectored; when a DVA exists, compliance with its requirements ensures safety. At non-DVA airports, pre-flight review and adherence to the ODP for the departure runway are crucial for obstacle protection.

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Imagine you’re departing into a low overcast, and the tower assigned you a heading. ATC has some way to keep you from hitting anything on that vector, right? Yeah…sorta.

Diverse Vector Areas (DVAs) have been established at some larger airports for a safe and standardized way to guarantee obstacle clearance for aircraft departing on radar vectors. DVAs have been surveyed and found to be clear of obstructions on a standard—or published non-standard—climb gradient. They’ve recently started to appear in the terminal procedures publication.