PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - STAR Arrival altitudes
View Single Post
Old 13th Mar 2020, 17:03
  #2 (permalink)  
SeventhHeaven
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: EU
Posts: 162
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
This is very difficult to read as you don't punctuate your sentences properly. You are also overcomplicating this.

If you are being vectored, so told to fly a heading, you are no longer on the STAR. You can descend as you wish. You are under radar control and ATC will take care of terrain avoidance. Use common sense with this, ATC can still make mistakes.

If you are on the STAR, flying the waypoints, and are cleared for the approach, then you can descend with the procedure. You follow the approach plate altitude restrictions. It doesn't matter if they clear you lower than that, unless they tell you otherwise, you follow the STAR restrictions.

In reality, you can always ask ATC if the altitude restriction is in force. They can tell you to ignore them if they don't require it. For example, some STAR have altitude restrictions due to parallel runway ops. If they don't have both runways in use, they will wave the altitude restriction. You can also tell ATC you're in VMC, visual contact with the ground, and they can basically allow you to descend as you wish. at that point, you're responsible for your own separation.

Last edited by SeventhHeaven; 13th Mar 2020 at 17:05. Reason: formatting
SeventhHeaven is offline