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Aviation vocabulary · Flight Phases

Approach

Meaning in aviation, with examples

/əˈproʊtʃ/nounCore term

In aviation, approach means: The phase of flight after the descent in which an aircraft is guided towards the runway it will land on, usually following a published procedure.

In Turkish: yaklaşma, yaklaşma safhası

How it is used

Pilots brief, fly and are cleared for an approach: an ILS approach, a visual approach, a stabilised approach. 'On final' means on the last straight part before landing. 'Approach' is also the name of the ATC unit: 'contact Approach 120.5'.

Example sentences

  1. We briefed the ILS approach for runway 05 before starting our descent.

  2. The approach was not stable at 1,000 feet, so the captain decided to go around.

Common collocations

  • ILS approach
  • visual approach
  • stabilised approach
  • missed approach
  • cleared for the approach
  • ILSInstrument landing system: radio signals from the ground that guide an aircraft left-right and up-down to the runway, so it can land in low cloud and poor visibility.
  • descentThe phase of flight in which an aircraft leaves its cruising level and goes down towards the destination before the approach begins.
  • landingThe final phase of a flight, in which the aircraft comes down onto the runway, touches the ground and slows to taxi speed.
  • go-aroundA manoeuvre in which the pilots stop an approach, add power and climb away instead of landing, usually to try again or to go to another airport.
  • holding patternA racetrack-shaped path that an aircraft flies over a fixed point while it waits for clearance to continue, for example because of traffic or weather.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Flight Phases

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