The AIM and the ATC bible, the 7110.65, say different things about clearing an aircraft direct to an intermediate fix. If you’re not careful, you may end up in a fix yourself.
Straight to the middle
When youre flying a high-tech aircraft, you expect any fix the controller throws at you will be ready to go in your database. Thats probably why an Eclipse pilot accepted a clearance to JISEV for the ILS Rwy 22 approach into Evansville, Ind. JISEV is an intermediate fix (IF) for the approach, and clearing the aircraft to it and then for the approach acts as a proxy for vectoring the aircraft onto the final approach course. Neat and simple for everyone.
Key Takeaways:
- The article highlights a discrepancy between the AIM and ATC's 7110.65 regulations regarding clearing RNAV aircraft direct to an Intermediate Fix (IF) for non-RNAV approaches, making such common clearances technically invalid per the 7110.65.
- The FAA is planning regulatory updates to both documents, which will permit RNAV aircraft to be cleared direct to an IF for any approach type under specific conditions, and will also clarify procedures for hold-in-lieu-of-procedure-turns (HILO) at FAFs and glideslope outages.
- Despite potential technical errors in ATC clearances, pilots retain ultimate responsibility for accepting and being able to comply with a clearance, and are advised to confirm or refuse if unable to execute a given instruction.
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