How Far Can You See?

Three simple conditions must be met to land from an instrument approach: being in a position to land, having the runway environment in sight, and possessing the required flight visibility. The first requirement is straight-forward and the second is thoroughly articulated in the regs. The third requirement, though, is a little thorny.Unlike commercial operations, which are restricted from conducting approaches with reported weather below minimums, GA pilots can take a peek no matter what the AWOS is blabbering. If you land with reported weather below minimums, an FAA inspector might ask you about the visibility. The answer is simple-you had the required flight visibility. The regulations only require you to have the flight visibility printed on the approach plate. The ol Pilot/Controller glossary defines flight visibility as:

Key Takeaways:

• Pilots landing from an instrument approach must make a subjective assessment of "flight visibility" from the cockpit, which is distinct from reported weather, especially for General Aviation (GA) pilots.
• Accurately determining flight visibility relies on understanding and utilizing specific visual cues provided by runway markings (e.g., centerline stripes, aiming points) and approach lighting systems (e.g., ALS types, decision bars, light spacing) as distance references.
• Pilots must correlate their aircraft's position relative to the runway at critical points like Decision Height (DH) or Minimum Descent Height (MDH) with these visual cues to confirm they possess the required visibility for a safe landing and to articulate this assessment if questioned.

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