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.

Key Takeaways:

• Diverse Vector Areas (DVAs) are rigorously surveyed and validated areas now being published at some airports to guarantee obstacle clearance for aircraft departing on radar vectors below the Minimum Vectoring Altitude (MVA).
• At airports without published DVAs, controllers issue radar vectors below the MVA based on their judgment and a limited display of obstacles, a method that lacks the comprehensive TERPS analysis and validation of DVAs or Obstacle Departure Procedures (ODPs).
• Pilots are responsible for obstacle clearance until given a radar vector; they should understand DVA requirements when published or, in their absence, consult the ODP for their departure runway to ensure safety, especially as DVA procedures now allow for non-standard climb gradients.

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