One of the handiest approaches in the instrument pilot�s bag of tricks is the contact approach. It is a legal and useful shortcut, but there is a string attached. The contact approach allows a pilot to deviate from a published instrument approach procedure and proceed on his own initiative by navigating to the airport where the visibility is reported to be at least one mile. The pilot must have ground contact (hence the name) and remain clear of the clouds, but what is important is that he becomes responsible for his own terrain separation.

The controller is required to keep the flight clear of other IFR and special VFR aircraft and to allow the pilot back into the IFR system if ground contact cannot be maintained. ATC cannot suggest or even mention this approach to pilots. You must request it and thus take on the responsibility. A controller with radar coverage may give you a low altitude warning if he senses that the flight is about to contact terra firma, but that is your responsibility. In many cases a flight will be below radar coverage. This procedure is not recommended at night for obvious reasons.

At many mountain airports, because of the very high terrain nearby, it is not possible to get down very low on the instrument approach. You can actually fly around near the airport VFR underneath the clouds while all the instrument traffic above you can’t get in. Using a contact approach, you could drop down under the ceiling if you find a convenient hole in the clouds some distance out from the runway and continue in under the clouds. Contact approaches are also useful if you find that you have descended down to a point where you have good ground reference and a mile visibility, but can’t see the end of the runway yet.

Basically, clearance for a 'contact' approach allows you to DEVIATE from a published instrument approach procedure. It is very commonly used in mountainous terrain. Simply, when you are flying the approach procedure, if you get in a position to visually make a safe approach to the runway, you may abandon the IFR approach profile and make your own terrain clearing approach to the landing runway.

Note: If you are flying an IFR approach procedure and you break out visually, you CANNOT just abandon the approach profile and land unless you also have a 'contact approach' clearance. In effect, you are cleared for two approaches.... the published one and your own visual one if you can break out prior to the MAP of the procedure. You must get an approach clearance of some type along with the 'contact' approach clearance.

In the real (and non-radar) world of IFR flying, you will often break out after an initial descent to your IAF. The contact approach clearance lets you just break off and use your own visual approach to the runway. Obviously, if the weather is above basic VFR minimums, you must also consider other traffic and the normal airport traffic pattern procedures.

I've many times been cleared for an approach (any I chose) 50 to 100 miles from an airport when flying in remote areas. As a matter of routine, we also request a 'contact' approach to give us the flexibility I've described above.

Yes, I would, especially if I was approaching the airport from a direction opposite the inbound of the ILS final. Remember, we are usually talking about a NON-radar environment in most cases.

So, if the airport had an ILS to RWY 36 that required a lot of maneuvering to fly the complete approach, I would ask for a contact approach so that if at anytime while flying that procedure (let's say passing overhead to fly outbound) I was able to make visual contact, I could just descend off the approach profile and land visually. In other words, if I was two miles NORTH and beginning to proceed south to execute the whole approach procedure when I broke out visually in a position to allow safe maneuvering to land, I could do that.

Without a contact approach clearance, you are still expected to fly the complete procedure to the airport since you don't have a visual clearance (radar environment) or a contact clearance. Also, a contact clearance is helpful in a radar environment when the weather conditons don't meet the minimums for a visual clearance. For instance, let's say half of an airport is fogged in and the official weather is below VFR minimums (or IFR minimums) so ATC cannot issue a visual approach clearance. If you get a clearance for any approach at that airport, you may use your 'visual' contact to manuever to a landing on a runway that's not fogged in if you have a contact approach clearance. YES, even if the airport is calling the official weather below IFR minimums (assuming you are Part 91).

In chapter 5 page 41:

'If conditions permit, pilots can request a contact approach, which is then authorized by the controller. A contact approach cannot be initiated by ATC. This procedure may be used instead of the published procedure to expedite arrival, as long as the airport has a SIAP or special instrument approach procedure (special IAPs are approved by the FAA for individual operators, but are not published in Part 97 for public use), the reported ground visibility is at least 1 SM, and pilots are able to remain clear of clouds with at least one statute mile flight visibility throughout the approach. Some advantages of a contact approach are that it usually requires less time than the published instrument procedure, it allows pilots to retain the IFR clearance, and provides separation from IFR and SVFR traffic. On the other hand, obstruction clearances and VFR traffic avoidance becomes the pilot’s responsibility. Unless otherwise restricted, the pilot may find it necessary to descend, climb, or fly a circuitous route to the airport to maintain cloud clearance or terrain/obstruction clearance.