ACR PLT SUGGESTS THAT ATC PHRASEOLOGY AND WX MINIMUMS ARE CONFUSING TO PLTS AND RECOMMENDS A CHANGE.

1993-03 · NASA ASRS report 239270

Date: 1993-03 · Aircraft: Large Transport; Low Wing; 3 Turbojet Eng · Phase: approach

Anomalies: other-unspecified

Synopsis

ACR PLT SUGGESTS THAT ATC PHRASEOLOGY AND WX MINIMUMS ARE CONFUSING TO PLTS AND RECOMMENDS A CHANGE.

Narrative

I HAVE A SUGGESTION FOR IMPROVED ATC PHRASEOLOGY PROC GOVERNING APCH CTL DURING CAT II; AND LOWER; APCHS. IN THE PAST; THE CTLR WOULD SAY 'CAT II APCHS IN PROGRESS;' NOW THEY SAY 'ILS TO RWY XX.' I AM TOLD THAT THE CHANGE WAS MADE BECAUSE OF DIFFERENT OPERATORS HAVING VARIOUS APCH MINIMUMS. THE PROB WAS PRESENTED TO ME DURING PARALLEL ILS CAT II APCHS TO RWY 14L&R AT ORD. THE WX WAS W1X; RVR 14R 5000. THE CTLR WAS PERIODICALLY GIVING THIS WX; AND ADVISING NEW ARRS ON FREQ THAT 'SIMULTANEOUS PARALLEL RWY 14R&L ILS'S IN PROGRESS; EXPECT ILS RWY 14R.' THE RVR WOULD PERMIT A CAT I APCH; BUT TO GET THE AIRPLANE LOW ENOUGH TO LAND WOULD REQUIRE CAT II. ALSO; THE VISIBILITY HAD RECENTLY BEEN BTWN CAT I AND CAT II MINIMUMS; AND I DIDN'T WANT TO DO A CAT I TO A MISS IF A CAT II WOULD GET US ON THE GND. I ASKED THE CTLR IF CAT II WAS IN PROGRESS; AND THE REPLY WAS AFFIRMATIVE. IF I HAD NOT BEEN ADVISED THAT CAT II IS IN PROGRESS; I DO NOT KNOW FOR SURE THAT ALL CRITERIA ARE MET AT THE MOMENT FOR ME TO LEGALLY FLY A CAT II. HOLD SHORT LINES ARE ONE REQUIREMENT; SEQUENCE STROBES ANOTHER; AND MAYBE OTHER REQUIREMENTS THAT I AM NOT AWARE OF; PERHAPS TKOFS ON A RWY THAT INTERSECTS THE LNDG RWY. ALSO; IF TKOFS ARE ALSO ON THE LNDG RWY; AND CAT II IS NOT BEING ADVERTISED; THE PLTS WAITING ON THE GND MAY NOT KNOW TO OBSERVE THE CAT II HOLD LINES. I HAVE BEEN TOLD RECENTLY THAT AT SOME SPECIFIED WX CONDITION; ORD CONFIGURES FOR CAT II; AND ALSO THAT THE CAT I AND CAT II HOLD LINES ARE THE SAME. HOWEVER; I DON'T READ MINDS AND I DON'T MEMORIZE LCL PROC AT EVERY ARPT IN THE UNITED STATES. MY SUGGESTION IS THAT WHEN APCHS LOWER THAN CAT I ARE APPROPRIATE; THE APCH CTLR WOULD STATE: 'LOW CATEGORY ILS'S IN PROGRESS.' THIS WAY; A PLT LIMITED TO CAT I WOULD ATTEMPT AN APCH IF LEGAL; AND CAT II AND CAT III PLTS WOULD HAVE BEEN PUT ON NOTICE THAT THEY ARE LEGAL TO CONDUCT SUCH APCHS. THE TERM 'LOW CATEGORY ILS' WOULD BE A NEW TERM; DEFINED AS AN ILS APCH WITH MINIMUMS LESS THAN CAT I. TO HAVE ESTABLISHED PROC WHICH FORCES A PLT TO MAKE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE TYPE OF APCH WHICH HE IS ABOUT TO EXECUTE IS TO FLY IN THE FACE OF ALL THAT IS KNOWN ABOUT FLT SAFETY.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.

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