Landing from a Precision Approach

Two sets, stitched together:

• From DA/DH to the visual maneuvering point: desired airspeed ±5 knots, vertical and lateral guidance within ¼-scale deflection (AA.VI.F.S1) — the instrument standard doesn't relax just because you can see
• Touchdown: at the aiming point markings −250/+500 feet, or where there are no aiming point markings, 750 to 1,500 feet from the approach threshold (S4)

Then positive control through the rollout, using drag and braking devices as appropriate to a stop (S5), with SRM/CRM (S6) and runway incursion avoidance (S7).

Because the regulation writes it into the approach itself: below DA, operations under part 121 or 135 require the descent rate to allow touchdown within the touchdown zone of the runway of intended landing (91.175(c)(1); 121.651(c)(1)). Floating past the zone isn't a style problem — it invalidates the condition that authorized you below DA in the first place, and the answer is a go-around. The ACS touchdown window (−250/+500 feet from the aiming point) is the same idea expressed as a checkride tolerance.

Divide the work. In a crew, it's common practice for the PM to call out the vertical speed during the transition, confirming the instruments are being monitored so more of the PF's attention can go to the visual portion — and the PM announces any deviation from stabilized approach criteria (IPH ch. 4). Cautions from the IPH: transitioning to visual in shallow fog may leave inadequate visibility to flare, so always be prepared to go around; single-pilot transitions are markedly harder because one pilot must keep flying the instruments while acquiring the runway (IPH ch. 4). The instrument crosscheck continues to touchdown — that's what the ¼-scale-to-visual-maneuvering tolerance (S1) is measuring.

The approach light system alone. Descent below DA/MDA requires at least one of the ten listed visual references distinctly visible and identifiable — but using the approach lights as the sole reference, you may not descend below 100 feet above the touchdown zone elevation unless the red terminating bars or red side row bars are also distinctly visible and identifiable (91.175(c)(3)(i)). Those red bars are features of the ALSF-1/ALSF-2 systems that serve precision runways; a runway with a MALSR has no red bars to show you, so at 100 feet you need something else from the list — threshold, markings, lights, TDZ, or the runway itself.

Lower visibility minimums. Full configurations pair with the lowest RVRs — CAT I to RVR 1,800 requires touchdown zone and centerline lighting in addition to the approach lights (IPH ch. 4). Precision approaches get visibility credit for any approach light configuration, and a non-precision approach (250-foot HAT) configured with a MALSR, SSALR, or ALSF-1 normally results in published visibility of ½ SM (IPH ch. 4). Take the lights away and the Inoperative Components Table raises the visibility (IFH ch. 1). Runway markings matter to this task specifically: the aiming point markings are your touchdown reference (S4), and the signs/markings/lighting knowledge element (K2) extends through the rollout and taxi-in.

Advisories from ATC or the evaluator (S2):

• NOTAMs
• Windshear
• Wake turbulence
• Runway surface and braking conditions
• Other operational considerations

Each maps to a risk element: runway selection against aircraft limitations, available distance, surface, and wind (R1); wake turbulence (R2); attempting to land from an unstable approach (R7); and flying below the glidepath (R8) — short of the TDZ is as disqualifying as long. LAHSO acceptance (R11) is a crew decision against your operator's authorization and the available landing distance.

Yes. In an airplane, if you've flown the approach to a point where a safe landing and full stop could have been made but circumstances beyond your control prevent the landing, the evaluator may give credit — and credit may also be given for Task VI.I (Missed Approach) or Area III Task J (Go-Around/Rejected Landing) when the applicable criteria are met (ACS Appendix 3). Also remember the test-level requirement: at least three actual landings, at least one to a full stop, with landing tasks combinable across Areas (ACS Appendix 3, Area III notes).

Because the visual segment tempts you down. At DA the runway appears foreshortened in low visibility, and the common illusion-driven response is to push toward it. The protections you had on the guidance evaporate below it: obstacle surfaces near the threshold are assessed for the published path, and 91.175 requires a normal rate of descent using normal maneuvers to a TDZ touchdown (91.175(c)(1)). The ACS answer is mechanical: keep the glidepath needle inside ¼ scale all the way to the visual maneuvering point (S1), crossing the threshold at the nominal height the procedure was built for — the IPH's stabilized-approach material puts the threshold crossing at about 50 feet above TDZE (IPH ch. 4).

Positive airplane control throughout, using drag and braking devices as appropriate to come to a stop (S5). Fly the airplane onto the runway in the touchdown window — not floated beyond it hunting for smoothness — then work the sequence:

1. Speedbrakes/spoilers verified deployed
2. Reverse or beta as applicable
3. Braking appropriate to the reported braking action and the distance remaining

PM: deployment verification and speed callouts per the operator's procedures (S6). Runway incursion avoidance (S7): exit where planned, hold short of everything you haven't been cleared to cross, and finish the after-landing items only when clear of the protected area.

You may be landing behind traffic you never see. The defenses are procedural rather than visual:

• Note the preceding aircraft's type and position from ATC advisories (S2)
• Expect ATC's wake-separation spacing
• Keep the approach on or above the glidepath to touchdown at or beyond the preceding traffic's — enforced by the ¼-scale discipline (S1) and the aiming-point window (S4)

A go-around is the standing answer if spacing collapses inside the FAF.

The landing-side items from the ACS Appendix 3 briefing list:

• Landing runway
• Instrument approach procedure
• DA/DH
• Missed approach procedures
• Initial rate of descent
• Time to missed approach
• Expectations of the other crewmembers during the approach and landing

Add the day's variables from S2 — runway condition and braking reports, LAHSO in effect, windshear advisories — and the touchdown-zone commitment: the point at which, if not down, you go around. Briefing the go-around as the default outcome is what keeps R7 (landing from an unstable approach) from ever becoming the finding.