What this profile covers
Threats and defenses when visual reference supplements or replaces instrument guidance, including terrain, traffic, runway identification, and path judgment.
Why it matters
Approach and landing concentrate configuration, weather, automation, runway, monitoring, and go-around decisions into a short period. For visual approach safety, useful analysis connects the immediate event with exposure, defenses, recurrence, and the wider operating system rather than treating one observation as a final conclusion.
Approach planning, path and energy control, landing contact, and runway-margin protection.
Understand the subject before interpreting a signal.
In plain language, this profile examines threats and defenses when visual reference supplements or replaces instrument guidance, including terrain, traffic, runway identification, and path judgment.
Build a multi-source picture
- Multi-parameter approach and landing flight data
- Weather, wind, runway, and procedure information
- Crew reports and relevant ATC records
- Operator criteria and aircraft-specific approved data
Timing, relationships, and recurrence
Relevant recorded context may include radio altitude, vertical speed, pitch attitude. Use validated mappings and examine signal relationships over the applicable flight phase.
Do not turn an observation into a conclusion
A gate exceedance or touchdown value is a screening observation, not by itself a causal finding, handling judgement, maintenance determination, or universal definition.
Keep controlling material visible
Apply the current approved manuals, procedures, authority requirements, investigation evidence, and validated organizational definitions for any operational decision.
Radio altitude
Height derived from radio altimetry, normally representing the distance from the aircraft to terrain directly below within the system's operating range.
Open parameter guide ↗ft/min or m/sVertical speed
The aircraft's vertical rate. Different recorded sources and smoothing can produce materially different values, especially during flare and touchdown.
Open parameter guide ↗degPitch attitude
Aircraft body attitude above or below the local horizontal reference.
Open parameter guide ↗From a broad topic to a defensible safety review.
Define
State what visual approach safety means for the aircraft, operation, authority, and organization in scope.
Verify
Confirm the provenance, quality, timing, units, completeness, and limitations of every data source used.
Describe
Reconstruct what happened and quantify relevant exposure before discussing causes or corrective action.
Corroborate
Compare flight data with reports, operational context, technical evidence, and authoritative source material.
Test barriers
Identify which preventive, recovery, and consequence-mitigation controls should have worked and how their performance can be measured.
Assure
Assign proportionate action and verify whether the control and safety performance improve without harmful unintended effects.
Questions before conclusions
- Q1
How is visual approach safety defined for the aircraft, operation, authority, and organization being reviewed?
- Q2
Which precursors, recorded signals, reports, and external data would confirm the event and describe its context?
- Q3
Which preventive, recovery, and consequence-reduction barriers should work, and where could they weaken?
- Q4
What does recurrence, exposure, severity potential, or change over time show before choosing a safety action?
3 connected event profiles
These are terminology and family connections for exploration—not claims that FDM alone can determine the topic.
Terrain warning after takeoff
A recorded TAWS or GPWS alert occurs during the departure or initial climb segment.
Open FDM profile ↗FDM-050 · DescentHigh terrain closure rate
Radio-altitude trend and vertical path indicate rapid closure with terrain in a context selected for monitoring.
Open FDM profile ↗FDM-068 · Approach alerts & clearanceLow terrain clearance on approach
Aircraft position and height indicate reduced terrain or obstacle clearance outside the intended approach corridor.
Open FDM profile ↗Go deeper into the closest ASIP research guides.
Hard Landing
A structured guide to recognizing, reporting, analyzing, and responding to a suspected touchdown load exceedance without confusing passenger perception with an engineering determination.
Open intelligence brief ↗Flight OperationsUnstable Approach
Recognize when path, speed, configuration, power, or crew readiness has moved outside applicable stabilized-approach criteria.
Open intelligence brief ↗Flight OperationsGo-Around Decision and Execution
Treat the go-around as both a normal safety decision and a manoeuvre whose mode, thrust, configuration, path, and workload must be monitored.
Open intelligence brief ↗Flight OperationsLanding Performance
Connect approved landing-distance data with current wind, runway condition, aircraft state, touchdown point, and deceleration technique.
Open intelligence brief ↗12 useful starting points
Original ASIP summaries lead to publisher pages. ASIP does not copy or host the reports.
SAFO 25001 — Risks Associated with Visual Approaches
Official U.S. Federal Aviation Administration material indexed for aviation safety. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceSAFO 21005 — SAFO 21005, Risks Associated with Visual Approaches
Official U.S. Federal Aviation Administration material indexed for aviation safety. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceNTSB Safety Alert SA-052 — Visual Illusions: The Ground May Be Closer Than It Appears
Official U.S. National Transportation Safety Board material indexed for ground operations. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceTerrain Awareness and Warning Systems operations based on GPS data
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for navigation and surveillance and human factors. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceNTSB Safety Alert SA-013 — Controlled Flight Into Terrain in Visual Conditions
Official U.S. National Transportation Safety Board material indexed for navigation and surveillance. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceAnnex 19 — Safety Management, Third Edition
Annex 19 consolidates ICAO safety-management provisions, including State safety responsibilities, SMS, safety-data collection and processing, and the protection and sharing of safety information.
Open official sourceAnnual Safety Review 2025
EASA's review uses occurrence and accident information to describe performance across aviation domains and to support the European safety-risk-management process.
Open official sourceStatistical Summary of Commercial Jet Airplane Accidents, 1959–2024
Boeing's 56th annual statistical summary organizes commercial-jet accident data using stated definitions and the CAST/ICAO occurrence taxonomy.
Open official sourceIATA Annual Safety Report — 2024
IATA's 61st annual report provides an interactive, method-defined view of commercial aviation accident performance and contributing-factor classifications.
Open official sourceAC 120-92D — Safety Management Systems for Aviation Service Providers
FAA guidance explains performance-based, scalable approaches to integrating safety policy, risk management, assurance, and promotion into aviation organizations.
Open official sourceAC 91-79B — Aircraft Landing Performance and Runway Excursion Mitigation
This FAA circular brings together landing-performance planning, time-of-arrival assessment, RCAM information, and operational practices for reducing runway-excursion risk.
Open official sourceSafety Alert SA-077 — Stabilized Approaches Lead to Safe Landings
The NTSB alert highlights the need to establish and maintain a stabilized approach and to go around when an approach falls outside applicable criteria.
Open official sourceCommon Taxonomy Team
International work on common aviation occurrence categories and definitions for consistent reporting and analysis.
Open referenceSafety Risk Management
European safety-risk process connecting data, safety issues, risk portfolios, priorities, and safety action.
Open referenceAnnual programmes and reports
Annual safety reviews and risk portfolios used to identify key risk areas, safety issues, and emerging issues.
Open referenceEuropean Plan for Aviation Safety 2025
A broad evidence-based portfolio showing the scale and connected nature of current aviation safety issues.
Open referenceOperational issues index
A practical discovery index for operational safety subjects; official authority and manufacturer sources remain controlling where applicable.
Open reference