C172 INSTRUCTOR AND INST STUDENT WERE DSNDED TOO LOW BY THE AZO APCH CTLR IN AZO CLASS E.

Date: 2002-04 · Aircraft: Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172 · Phase: approach

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|other-ctlr-handling-plt-understanding-of-msa-and-minimum-vectoring-alt

Synopsis

C172 INSTRUCTOR AND INST STUDENT WERE DSNDED TOO LOW BY THE AZO APCH CTLR IN AZO CLASS E.

Narrative

I WAS ON AN INST TRAINING FLT; WORKING ON MY INST RATING. MYSELF AND MY CFII WERE SHOOTING A PRACTICE ILS RWY 35 APCH INTO AZO. THE CTLR WAS BUSY AND HE KEPT US AT 3500 FT ON A 170 DEG VECTOR. ABOUT 10 MI SW ON THE GPS WE WERE TOLD TO TURN L TO 090 DEGS AND DSND DOWN TO 2500 FT. THE PUBLISHED MSA WITHIN 25 NM OF AZO (AUSTIN) LOM/IAF IS 3000 FT; AND 2800 FT WITHIN 10 NM OF AZO. I ACCEPTED THE CLRNC TO DSND TO 2500 FT AND TURNED L TO 090 DEGS FOR A L BASE ON THE ILS. I THOUGHT THIS WAS A BIT ODD THAT THE CTLR GAVE US THIS 2500 FT CLRNC. I DIDN'T QUESTION IT INITIALLY. AT THE FINAL APCH CLRNC; THE CTLR REALIZED THAT HE MADE A MISTAKE AND SAID SOMETHING TO THE EFFECT OF; 'CESSNA XYZ TURN L 020 DEGS; I'M SORRY; I DSNDED YOU DOWN TOO FAR; MAINTAIN 2800 FT TILL ESTABLISHED; YOU'RE 3 MI SW OF AZ; CLRED FOR THE ILS RWY 35 APCH; CONTACT AZO TWR ON 118.3.' I ACKNOWLEDGED SAYING THAT; 'I WOULD INDEED CLB AND MAINTAIN 2800 FT; CLRED ILS RWY 35 APCH AND OVER TO TWR; WE'LL SEE YA.' MY INSTRUCTOR SAID THAT IT WAS A BIT ODD THAT I WAS GIVEN A CLRNC TO DSND TO 2500 FT; AND NEXT TIME I WILL BE SURE TO CHALLENGE A CLRNC THAT WILL TAKE ME BELOW THE PUBLISHED MINIMUMS. I THINK THAT DUE TO MY INEXPERIENCE WITH INST FLYING I HAVE A LOT TO LEARN YET. I DEFINITELY HAVE LEARNED AN IMPORTANT LESSON; AND I AM GLAD THAT MY CFII DID NOT SAY ANYTHING.

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