InFO 23011: Non-Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Approved Coded Terminal Flightpaths.

Distributed by: Flight Standards

http://www.faa.gov/other_visit/aviation_industry/airline_operators/airline_safety/info/all_infos____________ An InFO contains valuable information for operators that should help them meet certain administrative, regulatory, or operational requirements, with relatively low urgency or impact on safety. The contents of this document do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public in any way. This document is intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies.

Subject: Non-Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Approved Coded Terminal Flightpaths.

Purpose: This InFO serves to inform pilots and operators of the conditions and requirements for using non-FAA approved coded terminal flightpaths in the National Airspace System (NAS).

Background: The FAA reviews, accepts, approves, and publishes routes for instrument and visual flight procedures including certain special procedures through Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) Part 97 and Part 91 Letters of Acceptance (LOA). The FAA compiles and distributes data and information to the public via the United States of America Aeronautical Information Publication (U.S. AIP). Aeronautical data suppliers utilize this information to develop navigation databases and/or electronic charts and make them available to the public for purchase.

Consumers purchase and upload these databases to aircraft and Electronic Flight Bags (EFB) for use during an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight. Air Traffic Control (ATC) facilities assign these procedures and routes by name in an IFR clearance.

The FAA does not prohibit third-party procedure designers, pilots, or Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) from constructing their own non-FAA approved coded terminal flightpaths to a runway that appear similar to U.S. AIP products, for use under visual conditions.

When aeronautical data providers depict their coded terminal flight paths on charts, the paths may appear to be FAA reviewed, accepted, or approved procedures, when in fact they are not. These non-FAA approved coded terminal flightpaths are not part of the U.S. AIP and are not instrument flight procedures nor approved visual or special procedures. ATC will not assign these non-FAA approved coded terminal flightpaths in an IFR clearance.

Discussion: Pilots have a regulatory responsibility to comply with their assigned ATC clearance for the entirety of their flight. Pilots flying non-FAA approved coded terminal flightpaths are responsible for avoiding terrain, obstacles, and traffic, and they may only do so under IFR on a Visual Approach clearance. Pilots should not seek a by-name IFR clearance for a non-FAA approved coded terminal flightpath even when the pilot extracts the procedure from the onboard navigation database. Loading a non-FAA approved flight procedure from the navigation database does not allow a pilot to deviate from the ATC clearance.

InFOInformation for Operators

U.S. Department

of Transportation

Federal Aviation

Administration

InFO 23011

DATE: 11/13/23

Flight Standards Service

Washington, DC

Distributed by: Flight Standards

Recommended Action: Directors of Operations, Chief Pilots, Directors of Safety, Check Pilots, Certificated Flight Instructors, and individual Operators ensure that pilots who use non-FAA approved coded terminal flightpaths are aware:

Contact: Direct questions and comments on this InFO to the Flight Technologies and Procedures Division, Flight Operations Group, at (202) 267-8976 or 9-AWA-AFS400-COORD@faa.gov.