Dominique Piepers posted in Air Operations
6 months ago
Public
Hi all,
I am looking for clarification concerning AMC5 CAT.OP.MPA.182 Point (a) (2) (ii) states that "for a type A or a circling approach, ceiling at or above MDH". I don't see why the circling approach has to be separately mentioned since by definition a circling approach is a Type A operation (item (20a) in Annex I - Definitions)
GM35 Annex I Definitions
ED Decision 2022/012/R
MINIMUM DESCENT ALTITUDE (MDA) OR MINIMUM DESCENT HEIGHT (MDH)
(a) Minimum descent altitude (MDA) is referenced to mean sea level and minimum descent height (MDH) is referenced to the aerodrome elevation or to the threshold elevation if that is more than 7 ft below the aerodrome elevation. An MDH for a circling approach is referenced to the aerodrome elevation.
"Type A" , in the context of the said AMC, refers to the MDH of the straight-in approach procedure. The MDH of the circling approach procedure (usually the opposite runway end) is usually significantly higher than that of the straight-in approach procedure (cf. Table 15 of AMC7 CAT.OP.MPA.110). The higher MDH of the circling approach procedure requires a higher ceiling when considering that approach procedure in fuel/flight planning. Furthermore, I do not see that definition 20a equates a circling approach with a Type A instrument approach operation but rather with a subset of it: it exempts those Type A instrument approach operations that bring an aircraft into position for landing on a runway/final approach and take-off area (FATO) that ARE SUITABLY LOCATED for a straight-in approach.
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