Near-Miss Understandings

Monday, April 20, 2020 at 01:40 PM ET

Verified

“Join the final approach course inbound” means you fly the course inbound and maintain your assigned altitude … not suddenly make a 180 degree into the face of the guy following you.

Key Takeaways:

Pilots frequently misinterpret ATC phraseology or make incorrect assumptions about instructions, even when reading them back accurately, leading to dangerous situations like near head-on collisions or flying into obstacles.
Receiving "cleared approach" is the explicit authorization to begin descent, but pilots must still strictly adhere to all charted altitude restrictions for each segment of the approach, especially underscored minimums, which do not automatically reset to the final approach fix altitude.
Instructions regarding speed or joining a final approach course do not authorize changes to the lateral path or bypassing intermediate waypoints; the full approach course must be flown unless specifically directed otherwise (e.g., "straight in").
The fundamental lesson is that pilots must *always* request clarification from ATC if they are uncertain about any instruction or phraseology, as blind compliance without comprehension significantly jeopardizes safety.

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Sequences don’t come much easier. A VFR Mooney and a VFR Cherokee both requested a practice RNAV approach. They were the same distance from the same initial approach fix (IAF), and the Mooney was 50 knots faster than the Cherokee.

I gave the Mooney direct to the IAF. The slower Cherokee got a few vectors to fall in trail, then also got direct to the IAF. With all the sequences I build every day as a controller, this was a no-brainer. Fast guy in front. Slower guy in the back.