Pilot/Controller Glossary
FINAL APPROACH FIX
This reproduces published FAA reference text for study. It does not replace the current official FAA publication or regulation.
The fix from which the final approach (IFR) to an airport is executed and which identifies the beginning of the final approach segment. It is designated on Government charts by the Maltese Cross symbol for nonprecision approaches and the lightning bolt symbol, designating the PFAF, for precision approaches; or when ATC directs a lower‐than‐published glideslope/path or vertical path intercept altitude, it is the resultant actual point of the glideslope/path or vertical path intercept.
Retrieved from ecfr.gov on July 18, 2026.