2022-04 · NASA ASRS report 1892415
Air Carrier flight crew reported an altitude alert from ATC during approach to MRY airport.
On arrival to MRY from northwest; Approach told us to expect RNAV (GPS) Y 28L approach transition from SNS to HIXAR. We queried whether they wanted us to fly the procedure turn; and were told to expect straight in from HIXAR. Approach Controller then instructed us to cross HIXAR at or above 5100 ft. cleared for the approach straight in from HIXAR (no procedure turn). Conditions VMC were with strong northwest winds. We slowed the aircraft early for the smart turn at HIXAR and the 3.6 degree glide path. We crossed HIXAR at 5100 ft. and dialed down 4100 ft. on the altitude alerter to final approach fix altitude. In the turn at HIXAR; Approach Control informed us of a low altitude alert. We were VMC with terrain in sight; called the field in sight and leveled off. Approach cleared us for a visual approach and we continued to a landing at MYR. On taxi we were instructed to call TRACON for a possible pilot deviation.The Manager at TRACON informed us that; after reviewing the tapes; there was no pilot deviation. He stated the Controller should not have cleared us SNS to HIXAR for a straight in approach. Instead; they should have vectored us farther outside of HIXAR before putting us on the approach. Or; alternatively; cleared us on the approach from SNS with a procedure turn at HIXAR.In the future; we would not accept a straight in approach clearance with a SNS transition to HIXAR. It creates a very tight turn while approaching higher terrain. This can be aggravated by strong tail winds on the leg to HIXAR. Better to extend east away from HIXAR before turning back towards the fix on the approach.
We were cleared for a straight in approach from ATC during an RNAV to 28L. I asked if they wanted us to do the procedure turn; ATC said no; straight in. We were in VMC conditions the entire time. When we made the turn to join the straight in; ATC gave us an altitude alert/warning. We requested the visual and flew it in to land. On the ground we were instructed of a possible pilot deviation and to call ATC. We called them on the ground and were informed that the Controller should not have cleared us for what they did; and that there was no pilot deviation.Do not accept straight in clearances from SNS-HIXAR for that approach. Ask to fly the procedure turn if they offer it because it is too tight of a turn; and there is a potential for a terrain conflict from ATC.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
Loading the flight search…
Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.
We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.
Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.
Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.