To Log or Not to Log

Youre in the muck on your hometown localizer approach at 3000 feet. You intercept final, center the needle and catch a glimpse of the highway below. A mile from the FAF and seven miles from the runway, still at 3000 feet, you begin to make out the runway. With visibility only three miles, you wait until crossing the FAF before descending to land. Can you log that?

Elaine Kauh

Monday, April 06, 2015 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The logging of instrument approaches is a debated topic with no clear FAA guidance, particularly when pilots break out of Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) well above minimums.
While extreme interpretations exist (log if started in IMC vs. only if descended to minimums in actual conditions), a practical middle ground is often favored.
Many pilots and examiners consider an approach loggable if a safe and accurate descent in IMC began at the Final Approach Fix (FAF) for non-precision approaches, or at the "500 to minimums" call for precision approaches.
Regardless of the chosen method, consistency and common sense should guide the decision-making process for logging instrument approaches.

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You’re in the muck on your hometown localizer approach at 3000 feet. You intercept final, center the needle and catch a glimpse of the highway below. A mile from the FAF and seven miles from the runway, still at 3000 feet, you begin to make out the runway. With visibility only three miles, you wait until crossing the FAF before descending to land. Can you log that?

There is no clear guidance and plenty of debate on the logging conundrum. To start, 14 CFR 61.51 (g) (1) states: “A person may log instrument time only for that flight time when the person operates the aircraft solely by reference to instruments under actual or simulated instrument flight conditions.”