As I was sitting in KASE waiting for passengers I saw a CRJ landed straight in runway 15 when ATIS was calling 1500 OVC. What special rules do you guys have to shot this approach, let alone land from straight in?

Sam -

Unless I'm reading some in your post wrong; there doiesn't seem to be any problem with a 1,500' overcast condition (better than basic VFR of 1000/3) and a straight-in landing is probably the easiest of any approach.

USMCFLYR

the LOC DME-E requires 2200-3 for Category B and I would bet the airlines are flying faster than we are.

AH...I see - a question about the mins on the approach. Well...I cant help you much there. I had to look up the airport identifier. I've never flown into Aspen, but I thought the basis for your question might have been along those lines. I agree about the approach speed though. I'll assume that they would be a Cat C aircraft, but I'm sure you'll get some good answers on here.

USMCFLYR

Airlines are allowed to shoot the approach as long as they have the required visibility. Ceiling does not prevent them from shooting the approach. Perhaps the ceiling being reported was a thin layer that could be seen thru. As long as you have the required visibility, airport enviornment in sight, and in continuous position to land, you should be good to go.


It has been over a year since I shot an approach there, but from what I remember visibility was usually the more restricting factor.

I forgot this rahc. I just learned this yesterday matter of fact. I was talking to a former military guy who is now flying fractional and he mentioned the visibility requirement and said that it was one of the things that was hard for him to get use too.

USMCFLYR

Ceilings are not controlling. You can shoot the approach as long as you have the required VISIBILITY. Keep in mind that just because the ATIS is reporting 015 OVC, that doesn't mean that an aircraft couldn't gain sight of the runway environment at a higher altitude. Ceilings could be higher then reported in some areas, as WX moves/changes.

I would have to look at the plate, however it has been visibility is determining and ceilings are considered since as long as I can remember.

AA

We do the special LOC DME 15. It has an MDA of 8780. We need "3 miles" to be cleared. We have 5 step down fixes and cross DBL at 14000 with gear down and flaps 30. The miss is at 3.9 DME. Inside that we have a "Balked Landing" procedure. T/O of on 33 requires 1 mile and 400 ft. ceiling. We operate from 7 AM til 11 PM. Flights to DEN, ORD, LAX, SFO for the UA side and SLC and ATL for DL.
The LYNX Dash and MESA Dash only need 2 miles I believe, but our MDA is lower.
We love holding over DBL as GA and 135 guys shoot the VOR and go missed. Every min. that goes by we get paid more
Hope this helps.

CRJ100 great answer! It was pretty sweet seeing RJ's appear out of the clouds. We needed 4200 for company OPS but the weather quickly deteriorated as we waited for passengers. It was a pretty fun approach. Thanks for taking the mystery out of it. Hope to try your approach soon.