J anuary 2000 Ai r Li ne Pi lot 5

By Capt . Wal l y Rober t s , TWA ( Ret . )

Is Thi s a NoPT
Ar r i val ?
Wally Roberts, a retired TWA
captain, served as chairman of
ALPAs former Charting and I nstru-
ment Procedures Committee. He now
serves as an advisor to that group on
terminal instrument procedures.
Capt. Roberts also wrote The
Uncharted I FR Departure Proce-
dure, April 1997.
AIR SAFETY LINK
One of ALPAs air safety represen-
tatives brought to the group that was
ALPAs Charting and I nstrument Pro-
cedures Committee a good question
about the finer points of arriving
straight-in on the VOR (or GPS) Run-
way 21 approach to Parkersburg, W.Va.
(see illustration). The principles in-
volved here have increasing application
to all of us as we progress to a GPS-
based area-navigation world.
I ndianapolis Center provides ap-
proach control services for this instru-
ment approach. Often, flights arriving
from the north and northeast are
cleared direct to the VOR at 3,000 feet,
then cleared for the approach.
Based on a general knowledge of Ter-
minal I nstrument Approach Proce-
dures (TERPs) criteria, a debate among
the pilots at one carrier arose over
whether bypassing the course reversal
holding pattern and flying a straight-in
approach was O.K.
One faction stated that TERPs per-
mits a straight-in approach when the
final approach fix (FAF) is a VOR,
NDB, or RNAV waypoint, and the turn
to the final approach course does not
exceed 30 degrees. Also, these propo-
nents of proceeding straight in said that
TERPs also required the arrival alti-
tude be within 300 feet of the FAF
crossing altitude for a straight-in ap-
proach to be O.K.
Another faction of pilots at the airline
said that the course reversal hold was
mandatory except for DME arc arrivals
via either PI XAW or PI WFY I AFs.
I nasmuch as the direct-arrival track
that I ndy Center provides was usually
within 30 degrees of the final segment
course, and the 3,000-foot arrival altitude
was only 300 feet higher than the FAF
altitude, was the lets go straight in
faction right? The short answer is: No!
The TERPs criterion that permits as
much as a 30-degree course change at a
VOR, NDB, or waypoint FAF is a de-
sign criterion for the procedure special-
ists who draw up approach procedures.
So is the 300-foot maximum altitude
difference, which, by the way, is the
maximum permitted difference be-
tween the course reversal holding alti-
tude and the FAF final crossing alti-
tude. Further, the final approach seg-
ment has to be of a minimum length,
depending upon both the magnitude of
the course change and the approach
category for aircraft authorized to use
the approach. This third design factor
escaped the pro-straight-in faction.
Unless ATC vectors you to final, you
must begin an approach over an I AF.
I n the example, the arrival at the J PU
VOR is an arrival at an I AF that does
not have NoPT annotated
to it. Thus, the course rever-
sal is mandatory. At one time
ALPA suggested to the FAA
that approaches like this one
at Parkersburg be analyzed
for compliance with TERPs
requirements for straight-in
arrivals that are not radar
vectored. Those TERPs re-
quirements are that (1) the
transition course is within 30
degrees of the final approach
course, (2) the arrival is at
FAF crossing altitude, and
(3) the final segment meets
TRPs length requirements
for a course change over the
FAF. The FAA ATC man-
agers and ATC union wanted
no part of such a complex
scheme, which would have
required a case-by-case re-
view of all such approaches.
Finally, some pilots con-
fuse the language in FAR
91.175(j) as being permissive.
To the contrary, that lan-
guage reinforces when a pro-
cedure turn (PT) must not be flown,
even though one is charted. Where a PT
is charted (a course reversal hold like
at Parkersburg being the equivalent of
a procedure turn for regulatory pur-
poses), you must make the course re-
versal unless you are vectored to final
or fly an arrival via a charted NoPT
terminal route or are flying timed ap-
proaches from a properly aligned hold-
ing pattern (i.e., a holding stack, usu-
ally at the FAF). I
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