AIM 

4/20/23

 

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22

Arrival Procedures

the capabilities of the aircraft and the pilot must determine how to best maneuver the aircraft within the circling
area in order to land safely.

l.

In isolated cases, an IAP may contain a published visual flight path. These procedures are annotated “Fly

Visual to Airport” or “Fly Visual.” A dashed arrow indicating the visual flight path will be included in the profile
and plan views with an approximate heading and distance to the end of the runway.

1.

The depicted ground track associated with the “Fly Visual to Airport” segment should be flown as a

“Dead Reckoning” course. When executing the “Fly Visual to Airport” segment, the flight visibility must not
be less than that prescribed in the IAP; the pilot must remain clear of clouds and proceed to the airport maintaining
visual contact with the ground. Altitude on the visual flight path is at the discretion of the pilot, and it is the
responsibility of the pilot to visually acquire and avoid obstacles in the “Fly Visual to Airport” segment.

2.

Missed approach obstacle clearance is assured only if the missed approach is commenced at the published

MAP. Before initiating an IAP that contains a “Fly Visual to Airport” segment, the pilot should have preplanned
climb out options based on aircraft performance and terrain features. Obstacle clearance is the responsibility of
the pilot when the approach is continued beyond the MAP.

NOTE

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The FAA Administrator retains the authority to approve instrument approach procedures where the pilot may not necessarily
have one of the visual references specified in 14 CFR 

§

 91.175 and related rules. It is not a function of procedure design to

ensure compliance with 

§

91.175. The annotation “Fly Visual to Airport” provides relief from 

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91.175 requirements that

the pilot have distinctly visible and identifiable visual references prior to descent below MDA/DA.

m. Area Navigation (RNAV) Instrument Approach Charts. 

Reliance on RNAV systems for instrument

operations is becoming more commonplace as new systems such as GPS and augmented GPS such as the Wide
Area Augmentation System (WAAS) are developed and deployed. In order to support full integration of RNAV
procedures into the National Airspace System (NAS), the FAA developed a new charting format for IAPs (See
FIG 5

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4

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6). This format avoids unnecessary duplication and proliferation of instrument approach charts. The

original stand alone GPS charts, titled simply “GPS,” are being converted to the newer format as the procedures
are revised. One reason for the revision is the addition of WAAS based minima to the approach chart. The
reformatted approach chart is titled “RNAV (GPS) RWY XX.” Up to four lines of minima are included on these
charts. Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS) Landing System (GLS) was a placeholder for future
WAAS and LAAS minima, and the minima was always listed as N/A. The GLS minima line has now been
replaced by the WAAS LPV (Localizer Performance with Vertical Guidance) minima on most RNAV (GPS)
charts. LNAV/VNAV (lateral navigation/vertical navigation) was added to support both WAAS electronic
vertical guidance and Barometric VNAV. LPV and LNAV/VNAV are both APV procedures as described in
paragraph 5

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5a7. The original GPS minima, titled “S

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XX,” for straight in runway XX, is retitled LNAV

(lateral navigation). Circling minima may also be published. A new type of nonprecision WAAS minima will
also be published on this chart and titled LP (localizer performance). LP will be published in locations where
vertically guided minima cannot be provided due to terrain and obstacles and therefore, no LPV or LNAV/VNAV
minima will be published. GBAS procedures are published on a separate chart and the GLS minima line is to
be used only for GBAS. ATC clearance for the RNAV procedure authorizes a properly certified pilot to utilize
any minimums for which the aircraft is certified (for example, a WAAS equipped aircraft utilizes the LPV or LP
minima but a GPS only aircraft may not). The RNAV chart includes information formatted for quick reference
by the pilot or flight crew at the top of the chart. This portion of the chart, developed based on a study by the
Department of Transportation, Volpe National Transportation System Center, is commonly referred to as the pilot
briefing.

1.

The minima lines are:

(a) GLS.

“GLS” is the acronym for GBAS Landing System. The U.S. version of GBAS has traditionally

been referred to as LAAS. The worldwide community has adopted GBAS as the official term for this type of
navigation system. To coincide with international terminology, the FAA is also adopting the term GBAS to be
consistent with the international community. This line was originally published as a placeholder for both WAAS
and LAAS minima and marked as N/A since no minima was published. As the concepts for GBAS and WAAS