Originally Posted by
thesweetlycool
I have a question that sort've pertains to this and the link that X rated posted sort've answers my question. When getting the reported RVR and deciding to shoot the approach anyway, is this illegal? In that link it says that if a not-for-hire pilot decides to shoot the approach anyway and lands, then he/she has a difficult task in proving that that RVR was inaccurate. However, it does not say that the shooting of the approach down to minimums and going missed is illegal.
I recently decided to shoot an approach even though the reported RVR was 1000 and the minimum for the approach was 2400, though I went missed and didn't land cause I couldn't see anything at all. The controller kept reminding me that the RVR was 1000, and I knew I wasn't going to land, just wanted to see what stuff looked like down there. I am just wondering if this is considered illegal?? Doesn't seem to be if you're not-for-hire.
For part 91, you can shoot an approach with 0 RVR. The tower was probably just making sure you were not attempting to actually land. They don't know if you are just practicing, or a doctor who wants to get home no matter what. What the article was getting at is if you decide to land when the RVR is below minimums, it will be hard to prove that the RVR equipment was not accurate. As long as you don't go below minimums, you can shoot an approach no matter what the weather is for part 91.
From my experience, tower does not really care what a part 91 aircraft does. A few years ago, I did an approach back into my home airport. The ATIS was still reporting minimums, but the weather was changing quickly. While on the approach, tower kept telling me he could not even see the runway due to fog. I broke out right before minimums and I could see the first 1500 feet of the runway clearly, but the rest of the airport was covered by a curtain of fog. The tower asked me what the flight visibility was and I told him ¾ at the approach end. He just laughed and said “as long as you can see”.