These Three Approaches

Editorial Staff

Monday, January 23, 2023 at 03:23 PM ET

Verified

Cessna Citation Latitude

Key Takeaways:

The FAA has rescinded its previous restrictive interpretation of "three different kinds of approaches" for the instrument rating cross-country, which mandated different navigation *systems*.
This prior interpretation created problems for pilots due to the ongoing phase-out of ground-based navaids and issues with approaches using similar lateral guidance (e.g., ILS and LOC).
Flight Standards has clarified that "different kinds of approaches" are now defined by the *type of approach minimums* (e.g., ILS, LOC, RNAV LPV DA, LNAV MDA), offering a simpler and more modern understanding.

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In “Which Three Approaches?” (September 2022 IFR) we discussed the FAA Chief Counsel’s abandonment of earlier restrictive interpretations of the dual cross-country prerequisite for the instrument rating. The flight, described in §61.65(d)(2)(ii) of the FAA regulations must include “three different kinds of approaches with the use of navigation systems.”

The 2008 Glaser and the 2012 Pratt letters interpreted this as a requirement to use approaches with “three different kinds of navigation systems.” The FAA is moving relentlessly from a system of ground-based navaids to one using RNAV/GPS as the primary means of navigation. VOR and NDB approaches are disappearing through the Minimum Operational Network removal of VOR and the related decertification of redundant and little-used ground-based approaches. This led to problems.