Originally Posted by
hans brinker
Been a while since I circled in the EU, but here in the USA it is legal. I flew into Aspen a lot, and the only runway we were allowed to land on was runway 15, and the only instrument approach was a LOC15 with only circling minimums (more than 400f/m). And yes, we used CDFA/DDA UNLESS planning to circle. At the MDA at the MAPT, you were way too high to make a straight in (1500 AAL?), but continue to half way down the rwy, make closed left traffic, and land on 15 no problem.
The circling approach does NOT mean you can't land on the same runway, it just means you can't make a straight in approach if you don't see the runway early on.
There might be a difference in the requirement of keeping the rwy environment in sight for the EU, but what you say is incorrect.
Hi Hans,
that's how the procedure is built, so this is accounted by the legislation. Worldwide, like many others here, I have seen VOR or NDB approaches with the landing runway placed 90º or so from the final approach track requiring a circle to land, sometimes with prescribed tracks due to terrain/noise. One example of this is Nice LFMN and the VOR approach RIVIERA for 04L/R. It is indeed the VOR APP followed by circling for the same runway, the latter being heavily offset.