FAA, NTSB Remain At Odds On ‘Dive And Drive’ Instrument Approaches
A type of non-precision instrument approach composed of a series of step-down altitudes, informally known as “dive and drive,” remains a point of contention between the FAA and NTSB following the August 2013 crash of UPS Flight 1354 in Birmingham, Alabama.
To date, the FAA has refused an outright ban on the technique, despite nearly a decade of pressure by the NTSB. UPS separately says it plans to prohibit the practice in its pilot manuals.
In the Birmingham crash, the crew of the Airbus A300-600 freighter had intended to use a more precise non-precision instrument approach technique known as a constant descent final approach (CDFA), but the captain ultimately resorted to a dive and drive approach late in the arrival. The aircraft hit terrain approximately one mile short of the runway, killing both pilots.
The NTSB issued 15 recommendations to the FAA following the crash, including one recommendation calling for the agency to prohibit dive and drive approaches, a recurring theme in the NTSB’s crash investigations.
The NTSB first asked the FAA to “develop and encourage” the use of CDFA approaches at all airports served by commercial carriers after an American Airlines MD-80 struck trees while on a dive and drive approach to Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Connecticut, in 1995.
A type of non-precision instrument approach composed of a series of step-down altitudes, informally known as “dive and drive,” remains a point of contention between the FAA and NTSB following the August 2013 crash of UPS Flight 1354 in Birmingham, Alabama.
To date, the FAA has refused an outright ban on the technique, despite nearly a decade of pressure by the NTSB. UPS separately says it plans to prohibit the practice in its pilot manuals.
In the Birmingham crash, the crew of the Airbus A300-600 freighter had intended to use a more precise non-precision instrument approach technique known as a constant descent final approach (CDFA), but the captain ultimately resorted to a dive and drive approach late in the arrival. The aircraft hit terrain approximately one mile short of the runway, killing both pilots.
The NTSB issued 15 recommendations to the FAA following the crash, including one recommendation calling for the agency to prohibit dive and drive approaches, a recurring theme in the NTSB’s crash investigations.
The NTSB first asked the FAA to “develop and encourage” the use of CDFA approaches at all airports served by commercial carriers after an American Airlines MD-80 struck trees while on a dive and drive approach to Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Connecticut, in 1995.
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