Instrument rating · ACS IR.VI.A
Non-precision Approach
A non-precision approach gives course guidance, but you manage the descent to a minimum altitude and look for the runway.
Why this one matters
Non-precision approaches have no vertical guidance, so the pilot manages the descent. Diving below the MDA early, or "ducking under" for a peek at the runway, puts the airplane below protected obstacle clearance in poor visibility, a classic pattern in controlled flight into terrain. Discipline at the MDA, a stabilized descent and an early decision prevent it.
Can’t miss
- •A non-precision approach gives lateral guidance only, to a minimum descent altitude (MDA). You level off at the MDA and stay there until you see the runway environment or reach the missed approach point.(Instrument Procedures Handbook (FAA-H-8083-16B), Approaches)
- •LNAV is GPS lateral guidance, linear ±0.3 nm on final. LP needs WAAS, uses angular scaling like a localizer, often has a lower MDA, and is published only where it beats LNAV. Neither is a precision approach: both use an MDA. An advisory glidepath (LNAV+V) does not change the MDA.(AIM, Chapter 1 (navigation aids, GPS and WAAS))
- •You may not descend below the MDA unless you can land at a normal rate with normal maneuvers, have the required flight visibility, and see a required visual reference for the runway.(14 CFR 91.175)
- •Don’t leave the MDA before the visual descent point (VDP), when one is published (straight-in only, based on the lowest MDA), and only with the 91.175(c) references. With none published, estimate it: height above touchdown ÷ 300 = miles from the threshold. If you pass the VDP still level and only then see the runway, a normal descent is no longer possible: go missed, don't dive.(Instrument Procedures Handbook (FAA-H-8083-16B), Approaches; 14 CFR 91.175)
- •Tune, identify and confirm the navaid; for GPS, confirm the approach mode annunciates (for example LNAV or LP) before the FAF.(AIM, Chapter 1 (navigation aids, GPS and WAAS))
- •Adjust minimums: your approach category; the Inoperative Components or Visual Aids Table (mostly visibility increases; with several components out, apply only the single largest); chart notes and NOTAMs that raise the MDA; and a remote altimeter setting (use the charted source, add the charted increment to every DA and MDA, apply any visibility increase, and no baro-VNAV or VDP where the chart says so).(Instrument Procedures Handbook (FAA-H-8083-16B), Approaches; Terminal Procedures Publication)
- •Checkride standard on final: no more than 3/4-scale deflection, airspeed ±10 knots, MDA +100/-0 feet to the VDP or MAP.(Instrument Rating ACS (FAA-S-ACS-8C), IR.VI.A.S12)
What you should know
The approaches and their guidance K1 · K2 · K3
- Ground-based non-precision approaches include VOR, localizer and NDB. Satellite-based: RNAV (GPS) LNAV and LP minimums.(Instrument Procedures Handbook (FAA-H-8083-16B), Approaches)
- LNAV: GPS lateral guidance with integrity. LP: WAAS lateral guidance with localizer-like precision, used where vertical guidance can’t be published. Both have an MDA.(AIM, Chapter 1 (navigation aids, GPS and WAAS))
- GPS habits: load the approach by name from the database, verify the waypoints against the chart, and check the RAIM prediction. The receiver arms approach mode within 30 nm of the airport and changes to approach sensitivity by 2 nm before the final approach waypoint (FAWP).(AIM, Chapter 1 (navigation aids, GPS and WAAS))
- If it doesn't sequence to approach mode, or an integrity alert appears, before the FAWP: don't descend to the MDA; fly via the FAWP to the missed approach waypoint (MAWP), go missed there, and tell ATC. After the FAWP: start the missed immediately, flying to the MAWP before any turn unless ATC directs otherwise.(AIM, Chapter 1 (navigation aids, GPS and WAAS))
- Identify the missed approach point: on RNAV, the MAWP; on ground-based approaches, a DME distance, a fix or intersection, station passage, or timing from the FAF using the chart's table and your groundspeed.(Instrument Procedures Handbook (FAA-H-8083-16B), Approaches)
- Step-down fixes on any non-precision approach are floors: brief each one and how you'll identify it (DME or along-track distance), and don't descend below it until past it.(Instrument Procedures Handbook (FAA-H-8083-16B), Approaches)
- Some GPS units show an advisory glidepath (LNAV+V). It’s advisory: the MDA and step-down fixes still govern.(AIM, Chapter 1 (navigation aids, GPS and WAAS))
Stabilized descent and energy K4 · R5
- Two techniques. A continuous descent final approach (CDFA) flies a constant angle or rate from the FAF to a derived decision altitude (often MDA + 50 feet, so the missed starts without dipping below the MDA) and goes missed there if not visual. Dive-and-drive descends early to the MDA and levels off, with a long low segment. CDFA is the recommended one.(Instrument Procedures Handbook (FAA-H-8083-16B), Approaches; AC 120-108)
- Know your descent rate: about 5 times your groundspeed in feet per minute gives a 3° path.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B))
- High descent rates close to the ground, or large corrections, mean an unstable approach: go missed.(Instrument Procedures Handbook (FAA-H-8083-16B), Approaches)
At the MDA R6 · R7
- Below the MDA only with: the airplane continuously in position to land at a normal rate with normal maneuvers, the required flight visibility, and one of the runway references in 91.175 (such as the threshold, runway lights, markings, REIL or VASI).(14 CFR 91.175)
- The approach-light rule is two steps. (1) With the approach lights as your only reference, you may descend no lower than 100 feet above the touchdown zone elevation (TDZE). (2) If the red terminating bars or red side-row bars are also distinctly visible and identifiable, the approach lights let you go below 100 feet. Work the number out from the chart before the approach: TDZE plus 100 feet is your floor on the altimeter.(14 CFR 91.175)
- Which lights have red bars: ALSF-1 has red terminating bars; ALSF-2 has red side-row bars in the inner 1,000 feet. MALSR, MALS and ODALS have none, so on those lights alone you never go below TDZE + 100; you need another listed reference (threshold, REIL, VASI, touchdown zone, runway, or their markings or lights) by then, or you go missed.(14 CFR 91.175; AIM, Chapter 2 (approach and runway lighting))
- The lights never cure the other conditions: all three in 91.175(c) must hold the whole way down: continuously in position for a normal descent with normal maneuvers, the required flight visibility, and a listed reference distinctly visible and identifiable, not just glimpsed. And 100 feet above TDZE is a floor on a continuous descent, not a place to level off. Leave the MDA toward it only if a normal descent to landing is possible from where you are; reach it without a qualifying reference and you go missed right then.(14 CFR 91.175)
- If the references aren’t there at the MAP, go missed immediately.(AIM, Chapter 5, Section 4 (arrival and approach procedures))
Flying it: setup, automation and configuration R1 · R2 · R3 · R4
- Brief the chart before you need it: frequencies, final approach course, FAF altitude, minimums, the missed approach, and notes.(Instrument Procedures Handbook (FAA-H-8083-16B), Approaches)
- Tune, identify (Morse code) and confirm every navaid; for GPS, check the approach is loaded and the correct mode annunciates before the FAF.(AIM, Chapter 1 (navigation aids, GPS and WAAS))
- Know what the autopilot and navigator will do next, and be ready to hand-fly. Automation confusion on an approach is a known accident pattern.(Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A))
- Configure in stages, per the POH: approach configuration and speed by the FAF so the final segment needs only small changes; final flaps when landing is assured (when circling, not until you leave the MDA). Know the missed approach configuration too.(Your airplane's POH/AFM)
- Fly the procedure as published or as cleared. If you can’t comply with a clearance, say "unable".(AIM, Chapter 5, Section 4 (arrival and approach procedures))
On the flight
ACS standards
- Before the final approach segment: altitude ±100 feet, heading ±10°, airspeed ±10 knots, no more than 3/4-scale CDI deflection.(Instrument Rating ACS (FAA-S-ACS-8C), IR.VI.A.S9)
- On final: no more than 3/4-scale CDI deflection, airspeed ±10 knots, and altitude above MDA +100/-0 feet to the VDP or MAP.(Instrument Rating ACS (FAA-S-ACS-8C), IR.VI.A.S12)
What your instructor is watching for
Your instructor watches your briefing, navaid identification and GPS mode check, a stabilized descent to the MDA, holding the MDA precisely, and a prompt missed approach without the required references.
Scenarios
Decide what you would do first, then see the worked answer.
Your GPS shows TERM instead of LNAV as you cross the FAF.
What do you do? See the worked answer
Don’t continue the descent: the approach mode isn’t active, so the integrity and scaling aren’t right. Go missed and sort it out.
AIM, Chapter 1 (navigation aids, GPS and WAAS)
Level at the MDA, a mile from the MAP, you glimpse the runway through haze, then lose it. You have not descended.
What do you do? See the worked answer
Stay at the MDA: a glimpse isn’t a reference that’s distinctly visible and identifiable, so don’t descend. If you don’t have it by the MAP, go missed there. (Had you already gone below the MDA, losing it means an immediate missed, not waiting for the MAP.)
14 CFR 91.175
You see the runway at the MDA, start down, and 200 feet lower it disappears into haze.
What do you do? See the worked answer
Go missed immediately. Below the MDA, the moment you lose the required visual reference you must start the missed approach; you don’t wait for the MAP. Climb, fly to the MAP on the approach course, then the published missed, and tell ATC.
14 CFR 91.175(e)(1); AIM 5-4-21
The NOTAMs say the airport’s altimeter setting isn’t available, and a remote setting is noted on the chart.
What changes? See the worked answer
Use the charted remote setting, add the charted increment to every DA and MDA, apply any visibility increase, and don’t use baro-VNAV or the VDP where the chart says so.
Instrument Procedures Handbook (FAA-H-8083-16B), Approaches
Common mistakes
Diving and driving without a plan.
Long level segments at low altitude, and late, steep descents.
Instead: Fly a CDFA to a derived decision altitude, or brief the step-downs and VDP if you must level off.
Ducking below the MDA early.
No obstacle protection without the references.
Instead: Stay at the MDA until you meet 91.175.
Skipping the GPS mode check.
Wrong sensitivity or integrity.
Instead: Confirm the approach mode before the FAF.
Now train it
Say it out loud, hear it asked, and take the quick check in this lesson’s practice pack. It tracks your shaky spots.
Got it?
When it feels solid, practice non-precision approach out loud with our examiner.
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Teaching this? The instructor lesson plan →
Sources
- Instrument Procedures Handbook (FAA-H-8083-16B): Approaches
- Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B): Navigation systems; IFR flight
- Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM): Chapters 1, 2 and 5
- 14 CFR: 91.175, 97.3
- Instrument Rating ACS (FAA-S-ACS-8C): Area VI
- Terminal Procedures Publication (TPP): the current chart for each approach
Study aid, not FAA guidance. Regulations change; check the current text at eCFR and the ACS. Checked against current sources 2026-11-13.