From minimums to the runway
The 14 CFR 91.175 requirements to leave DA or MDA, the approach-light exception, and the visual transition to touchdown.
15 min read · Flying IFR: departure to landing
After this lesson you can
- State the three conditions 14 CFR 91.175 requires before descending below DA/DH or MDA.
- List the visual references that satisfy 91.175, and explain why the approach light system is treated differently from the others.
- Read real published minimums off a chart and explain what changes them.
- Describe the visual transition from instruments to a normal landing.
The gray outside N7421G’s windshield resolves, right at decision altitude, into the unmistakable pattern of approach lights - and a few seconds later, the runway itself. This is the moment every lesson in this module has been building toward: leaving the instruments and landing the airplane. It is governed by one regulation, 14 CFR 91.175, and it rewards knowing its three conditions cold, because there is no time to look them up at 218 feet.
Boston Runway 4R illustrates the rule with real numbers: a straight-in ILS minimum of 218 feet MSL - 200 feet above the touchdown zone - with half a mile of visibility required, dropping to a 374-foot minimum if the approach lights are out of service. Nothing about 91.175 changes with the specific approach; only the numbers plugged into it do.
The rest of this lesson
- 1.Three conditions, every time
- 2.What counts as the runway environment
- 3.Reading real minimums off the plate
- 4.The moment of transition
- 5.After touchdown
These 5 sections, their figures, the checks along the way and the end-of-lesson quiz come with the IFR track. Paid once, yours for good.
Key terms
Try to recall each definition before turning the card.