PANS-OPS: Aircraft Operations

Air Regulations · Chapter 12 · DGCA CPL and ATPL

How instrument departures, approaches and holds are built to keep you clear of obstacles, and exactly how to fly them. Animated, step by step.

Remember

What is PANS-OPS, in plain words?

What PANS-OPS is

A rule book that tells designers how to build safe instrument procedures, and pilots how to fly them.

  • PANS-OPS, ICAO Doc 8168 air navigation procedures
    • Volume I: Flight Procedures for pilots and operations staff
      • What it gives you how to fly each procedure Operational procedures for flight crew and operations staff. It also explains the design numbers behind Volume II, so you see why you must fly a procedure exactly as published.
      • Why stick to the procedure it keeps you protected The protection is built around the published path. Leave the path and you may leave the protected airspace.
    • Volume II: Construction for procedure designers
      • What it gives designers areas and obstacle clearance How to draw the protected areas and how much clearance from obstacles each part of an instrument procedure needs.
      • Why it matters to you the same rules everywhere States and chart makers use it, so instrument procedures are built the same way at every aerodrome.
    • Assumptions behind every procedure read these first
      • All engines operating engine failure: operator plans PANS-OPS procedures assume every engine works. Planning for an engine failure (a contingency procedure) is the operator's responsibility.
      • Charts show tracks you correct for wind A track is the line over the ground. Pilots keep to it by changing heading for known wind.
      • Worked examples 600 m (2000 ft) and ISA +15°C The book's sample calculations use an altitude of 600 m (2000 ft) above mean sea level and a temperature of ISA +15°C unless stated otherwise.
      • Obstacle clearance first the main safety idea Every design decision starts from keeping you a safe height above obstacles. The detailed method is in Volume II.

Memory hook: Volume I: how to fly it. Volume II: how it was built.

Takeaway: PANS-OPS (ICAO Doc 8168) has two volumes: Volume I for pilots, Volume II for procedure designers. Both assume all engines work.

What airspace protects you on a procedure?

Protected areas

Press Play. Each part of a procedure is a corridor of airspace laid evenly around your track.

  • A corridor around your track Where you have track guidance, each segment of the procedure is a block of airspace. Seen end-on it is laid out evenly either side of the centre line: your track.
  • Primary area: the middle half On straight segments the primary area is half of the total width, centred on your track. You get the full minimum obstacle clearance (MOC) across all of it.
  • Secondary areas: a quarter each side Each secondary area is one quarter of the total width, one on each side of the primary area. They are a safety buffer for small errors.
  • Full MOC over the primary area MOC means minimum obstacle clearance: the guaranteed height above the obstacles. Over the whole primary area you get the full MOC.
  • MOC fades to zero at the edges In each secondary area the full MOC applies at the inner edge, then reduces to zero at the outer edge. Stay near your track and you stay well protected.
  • A turn with no guidance: all primary If a turn in the procedure gives you no track guidance, the whole width of the area counts as primary area, with full MOC everywhere.

Memory hook: Half in the middle, a quarter each side.

Takeaway: Primary area = middle half, full obstacle clearance. Secondary areas = a quarter each side, clearance fading to zero at the outer edge.

Why must you climb at least 3.3%?

Departure climb

Press Play and watch the climb build up from the 2.5% surface and the 0.8% margin.

This lesson is part of the Core plan. See plans

Straight or turning departure: what's the difference?

Straight or turning

Press Play: one aircraft goes nearly straight, the other must climb before it turns.

This lesson is part of the Exam-Ready plan. See plans

How does a departure with no track guidance work?

Omnidirectional

No navigation aid to follow? Climb straight ahead first, then turn the way you need.

This lesson is part of the Exam-Ready plan. See plans

Fly-by or flyover: how does the aircraft turn?

RNAV turns

An RNAV computer flies from waypoint to waypoint. Watch the two kinds of waypoint turn differently.

This lesson is part of the Exam-Ready plan. See plans

GBAS, SBAS, ABAS or PBN?

GBAS, SBAS, ABAS

Sort each statement into the system it describes. The first letter tells you where the help comes from.

This lesson is part of the Exam-Ready plan. See plans

How exact is each kind of fix?

Fix tolerance

No fix is a perfect point. Each bar shows how far off it may be. Tap one.

This lesson is part of the Exam-Ready plan. See plans

What are the parts of an instrument approach?

Approach segments

Press Play and fly a whole approach. Each part lights up as you reach it.

This lesson is part of the Core plan. See plans

How do you get from the airway to the approach?

Arrival, MSA, TAA

Follow three aircraft joining one approach from three directions.

This lesson is part of the Exam-Ready plan. See plans

How do you turn around onto the final track?

Turning around

No handy IAF? Fly out from the facility, turn around, and come back inbound. Four ways, animated.

This lesson is part of the Exam-Ready plan. See plans

Which approach category is my aircraft?

Categories

Your category comes from one speed: Vat, the speed over the threshold. Find your row, then read across.

This lesson is part of the Core plan. See plans

What kinds of final approach are there?

Kinds of final

Watch each kind of final from the side. They differ in how you descend and where you decide.

This lesson is part of the Exam-Ready plan. See plans

How is a missed approach flown?

Missed approach

Can't see the runway at the minimum? Watch the three phases of the climb away.

This lesson is part of the Exam-Ready plan. See plans

What may you do at the minimum?

At the minimum

Read each situation, then press the stamp that says what you may do.

This lesson is part of the Core plan. See plans

How is your minimum altitude built up?

OCA, MDA and DA

Press Play and stack it up: obstacle, clearance, OCA/H, margin, minimum. Then fly to it.

This lesson is part of the Core plan. See plans

Type A or B? CAT I, II or III?

Type and CAT

Two questions sort every approach: how low may you go, and do you get vertical guidance? Read across.

This lesson is part of the Exam-Ready plan. See plans

How does a circling approach work?

Circling

The instrument approach brings you to the aerodrome; then you fly visually round to a runway.

This lesson is part of the Exam-Ready plan. See plans

Can two parallel runways work at once?

Parallel runways

Watch both runways in use at once. The further apart, the more independent they can be.

This lesson is part of the Exam-Ready plan. See plans

How is an RNAV VOR/DME approach built?

RNAV VOR/DME

A non-precision approach flown by the flight management computer, using one VOR with DME.

This lesson is part of the Exam-Ready plan. See plans

Which way do you enter the hold?

Hold entries

Drag the aircraft round the circle, or use the slider, to set your heading. Then watch the entry.

This lesson is part of the Core plan. See plans

How do you fly an accurate hold?

Flying the hold

Fly a lap: see where the clock starts, and how wind, DME or a radial change the legs.

This lesson is part of the Exam-Ready plan. See plans

How fast may you hold, and other key numbers?

PANS-OPS numbers

Drag each dial. Holding speeds, categories and parallel runways, then the approach fix by fix.

This lesson is part of the Exam-Ready plan. See plans

When do you switch QNH and 1013.2?

Altimeter setting

Fly a whole trip and watch the altimeter setting change going up and coming down.

This lesson is part of the Exam-Ready plan. See plans

How do you check the altimeter before flight?

Altimeter check

Park at a known elevation, set the pressure, tap, and read. Four steps.

This lesson is part of the Exam-Ready plan. See plans

How do you set and use the transponder?

Squawk codes

Tap each code or word to see what it means and when you use it.

This lesson is part of the Exam-Ready plan. See plans

What does ACAS do when two aircraft converge?

ACAS in action

Watch two aircraft head for the same level, and what ACAS tells each crew.

This lesson is part of the Exam-Ready plan. See plans

TA then RA: what do you do, step by step?

TA and RA

A checklist to learn by heart, from the first advisory to back on clearance.

This lesson is part of the Exam-Ready plan. See plans

Numbers to know

Numbers

The figures examiners like, in one list. Tap any number for what it means.

This lesson is part of the Core plan. See plans

Pairs that catch students out

Don't mix up

Look-alikes that cost marks, and how to tell them apart.

This lesson is part of the Core plan. See plans

Test yourself

Twelve questions from this chapter.

This lesson is part of the Core plan. See plans