Cleared For the Visual

As simple and straight forward as the visual approach, is sometimes you might end up wishing you were in the soup to minimums. The visual approach has a few traps waiting to grab you. It is important to remember the visual approach is not an instrument approach even though you are still on an IFR flight plan.

More than anything else, the visual approach requires a high degree of situational awareness. To receive a visual approach (besides remaining VFR) you must have the airport in sight or, you must have the preceding aircraft in sight and follow in trail.

When's there only one big airport in the area, this is easy. But it's more complicated when there are both multiple airports and aircraft to sort through. More than one pilot has landed at the wrong airport or on the wrong runway from a visual and not just GA pilots, either. An instrument approach usually assures you get to the right airport and runway, but this isn't necessarily true for a visual.

The weather in general is typically better during a visual approach and you should have a lot more altitude to play with. With this in your favor you would expect fewer errors being made. Yet a visual approach can be not much different than a circling approach with all the attendant hazards associated with the former. The fact that conditions are usually good during a visual approach (ceiling 1000 feet above MVA and three miles visibility) can undoubtedly lead to a certain level of complacency. Don't forget, when you accept a visual, navigation and separation are your responsibility.

The visual approach alleviates our need to rely on electronic navigation since we should either see the airport or other traffic heading to the same airport. This is the first trap. Available electronic navigation is often routinely ignored—depriving the pilot of an excellent means of enhancing situational awareness. Assuming you have a GPS, program-in direct to the airport and even the approach to the active runway to improve situational awareness. Even a VOR can help orient you to the field if necessary. While it is a visual approach, there is nothing preventing you from using the electronic tools you have readily at hand.

The second trap is the visual approach eliminates any IFR separation requirements. While controllers tend to keep aircraft tightly spaced, once on the visual approach you may find the aircraft you are supposed to be following is rapidly pulling away from you and out of sight. Since this is a VFR approach, the aircraft ahead may have to maneuver to avoid clouds further complicating your ability to keep it in sight. On the other hand, you may find yourself creeping up on the traffic ahead to the point they won't be able to clear the runway prior to your arrival forcing a go around. You are also responsible for maintaining any wake turbulence separation.

The worst scenario is you end up following the wrong traffic. If you agree to follow traffic that ATC has advised you is ahead you must positively identify that traffic and keep it in sight. This is not always an easy task when the target may have a paint scheme that blends into the background or you are flying directly into the sun.

Either ATC or the pilot can initiate a visual approach. Another trap is accepting or requesting a visual approach when the plane, pilot, or conditions are not exactly conducive to the task at hand. "Get home itis" might regrettably trump common sense. You are not required to accept a visual approach when offered. You can also delay acceptance to give you more time to become situationally aware. ATC cannot give you the visual approach until you confirm either the airport in sight or that you have the air traffic they have designated you to follow.

If you have any doubt as to your ability to successfully conduct a visual procedure, you should simply remain IFR. What is important to realize is that once you accept a visual approach there is no missed approach. You are essentially a VFR pilot. The only option you have is a go-around, but you have to remain out of the clouds. Now will ATC assist you should you venture back into the clouds? Of course, but be prepared to hear, "On landing, please call…" Certainly do whatever is necessary to be safe, even if you may have to answer a lot of questions later. Should things go awry, the good news is that as soon as you contact ATC, IFR separation will once again be maintained.

Fortunately, ATC has certain restrictions on when and how they offer a visual approach. A vector for the visual approach can only be given if the weather at the airport of intended landing is at least a reported ceiling of 500 feet above the MVA/MIA (Minimum Vectoring Altitude/Minimum Instrument Altitude) and the visibility is 3 miles.

To clear an aircraft for the visual approach the ceiling must be at or above 1000 feet and 3 miles visibility. This is the weather at the airport of intended landing. The weather between you and the airport may be a whole lot different. Don't accept the visual if you won't be able to maintain VFR, especially if ATC issues altitude restrictions along with the clearance. If there is traffic ahead of you that ATC wants you to follow and you do not see it, ATC must continue to provide separation even if you have the airport in sight.

ATC must give you the location of the destination airport when they ask you to report the airport in sight. Should there be multiple airports located in close proximity, ATC will also provide you with the location of any airports that may cause confusion.

Things can get a bit hairy when multiple approaches to parallel or converging runways are in effect. All aircraft must be informed by ATC that approaches are being conducted to parallel, intersecting, or converging runways. However, this may be accomplished solely through use of the ATIS.

Note that visual approaches may be conducted to one runway while visual or instrument approaches are being conducted simultaneously to other runways. For parallel runway approaches, ATC will vector aircraft so they intercept the final approach course with a 30 degree or less intercept angle. This is to reduce the potential for overshoots of the extended centerline of the runway and mitigate side-by-side operations where one or both aircraft may be in a "belly-up" attitude during the turn restricting visibility of the other traffic.

One other variant of the visual approach is the CVFP, Charted Visual Flight Procedure. These are usually found in congested airspace to help expedite traffic through the area. Those charted approaches lack of any missed approach instructions. It is a visual approach with one caveat, you must fly the charted procedure as depicted. The CVFP is a blend of instrument and visual approach procedure. A CVFP also may incorporate some portions of the instrument approach to the runway although it is not a mandatory part of the procedure, just an aid to navigation that the prudent pilot will take advantage of. Altitudes are also recommended and not mandated though ATC can always impose altitude restrictions if necessary.

While they call this a procedure (to try and differentiate it from a normal instrument approach) ATC will issue this similar to an instrument approach, giving you the published name of the CVFP and the landing runway in the approach clearance.

Unlike a standard visual approach, ATC can clear you for the CVFP even if you are not following another aircraft on the approach, or when you do not have visual contact with the airport—provided you can report sighting one of the charted visual landmarks. A CVFP may impose higher weather minimums from a standard visual approach as defined in the notes on the plan view. Don't expect a CVFP at an uncontrolled field and you will not be issued a CVFP if the control tower is not in operation.

One last thing when flying a visual approach, don't forget to contact the tower prior to landing. Just like being cleared on a regular instrument approach, you have to talk to the tower. On a regular instrument approach this usually occurs around the final approach fix but for a visual there is no final approach fix. More than one pilot has landed on a visual approach without contacting the tower. Don't add yourself to this list.

Richard Lanning Ph.D. is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and has been a pilot for more than 30 years. He is a FAASTeam member, an active CAP mission pilot, CFII and CFIG.

This article originally appeared in the November 2014 issue of IFR Refresher magazine.

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