This is all getting very confused! IF an RNAV pattern (let's call it a 'CIRCLE' although it won't be) is constructed, it will NOT need to be constrained by a TERPS or PANSOPS circling area, since it will be drawn (and hopefully flown) avoiding KNOWN obstructions. In fact it will not need ANY sort of 'area' constructed. Nor would it need 'visual contact with the runway environment'.
I can see very few airports where this will be necessary - there are of course some (please don't start listing them!) - but the vast majority will be better served by a properly constructed RNAV approach directly to the runway in question, where 'traditional' approaches do not exist.
I still suspect that AirBlue set out to fly some 'secret handshake' homebuilt RNAV pattern onto R12 (as hinted at by the poster way back on the original thread) and simply screwed up big time.