Protected Areas for Procedures
Dear All,
I am trying to get my head around protected areas around procedures.
PANS-OPS (Doc 8168) states that all procedures depict tracks that pilots should attempt to maintain.
As I understand it, protected areas should be obstacle free in case the aircraft is not able to stay exactly on track - i.e. it offers a buffer of space that the aircraft will to a high probability always fit inside when flying the procedure.
Is my understanding correct? In that case, is there a probability assigned to the protected area (e.g. 99% of the time the aircraft will be inside the protected area)?
If I am now doing a noise assessment say, or any other analysis that requires knowledge of the aircraft position in space, would I use the nominal procedure track to locate the aircraft, or should I also take into account the fact that the aircraft may not necessarily be always on track?
I have had some very useful feedback on my previous questions on this forum, so I hope you will help me again.
Regards,
NotaLOT