Re: Interesting document.
mar said:
Why were they making a *right* hand turn? They were approaching Rwy 26, correct?
Not according to my understanding of the incident. Every discussion I've ever heard of this describes them doing a right base for RWY 8. The NTSB order doesn't explicitly state which runway was being used, but it does state repeatedly that the issue is a right turn to final. That, coupled with the fact that that the flight was almost surely arriving from either Anchorage or Nome, strongly suggests to me that it was RWY 8, as I have been previously lead to believe. Surely you'll agree that it would be awkward and inconvenient, at best, and have no operational advantage to position the airplane for a right base turn to final for Rwy 26, if arriving from either Anchorage or Nome?
Here's the issue as I understand it:
There is no question that it's illegal to fly a right hand pattern to a runway with a left hand pattern. The question is "how far out does a right turn to final stop being "right hand pattern" and become a "straight in approach".
lets take a look at a couple of hypothetical scenarios.
If you had two airports 50 miles apart and the runways were perfectly aligned, and you took off from one and flew a perfectly straight path to the other and landed straight in, you could not be found in violation of 91.89(a). 91.89(a) prohibits right turns, and you didn't make any turns, so the facts don't support a violation of 91.89(a).
Now, suppose that you made a right turn onto final for your landing runway 50 miles from the runway. Does that right hand turn constitute a violation of 91.89(a)? Clearly, that is absurd, and no one, not even the FAA, claims that a right turn to final 50 miles from the airport constitutes a right hand traffic patern.
So the question becomes, at what point does a right turn to final become a violation of 91.89(a) (now 91.126 (a) and (b) and 91.127(a) by reference) ?
If you turn right onto final 25 miles from the airport is that a straight in approach or a right pattern?
10 miles?
5 miles?
2 miles?
Obviously, at some point it becomes a right pattern and not a straight in approach.
In according to the order, the right turn to final "was made between 1 and 2 miles from the runway" This is apprently not disputed by the respondent.
As I understand it, the FAA argued and the NTSB held that a right turn to final must be made at least 5 miles from the airport to be considered a straight in, rather than a right pattern.
mar said:
Either way, I'm not sure I agree a left turn would've left them on solid legal ground. ?
Yes, a left turn would have left the captain with an absolute, bulletproof defense against a violation of 91.89(a). In order to violate 91.89(a) there must be a right turn. (or a left turn to a runway with a right pattern) Without a right turn, the FAA has no case for a violation of 91.89(a).
Now, your position is that a left base entry to a left pattern is not allowed. Perhaps perhaps not. I'm not conceding that point, but the NTSB case we've discussed sheds no light on that issue. That case centers around 91.89(a) which is completely irrelevant to the question of whether a left base entry to a left pattern is allowed. As long as you are making turns to the left you are in compliance with 91.89(a), or in the context of today's regulations, with 91.126 and 91.127.
So, in order to sustain a violation for a a left base entry, what regulation is going to be cited? There is no regulation which prohibits such an entry. There is only the AIM's recomendation. The only regulation which might be applicable is 91.13, careless or reckless operation. So we enter a grey area. There is no precedent I am aware of which establishes that failure to follow the AIM recommendations is, per se, careless or reckless. The FAA must demonstrate that such an action, is in fact, careless or reckless.
Could the FAA sucessfully argue that a left base entry is careless or reckless? Perhaps, if there were other supporting facts; failure to use proper radio procedures, conflict with other traffic, something like that, I'd say yes.
If you flew a left base entry and there were no traffic conflicts, you made all the recommended radio calls, and did everything corecctly, I think that the FAA would have a hard time justifying a careless or reckless finding against you on the sole basis that you didn't enter on a 45 to the downwind.
Food for thought: Entering the downwind on a 45 is, per se, a violation of 91.126 or 91.127 as applicable. You can't enter on a 45 without making a right turn, and you are only allowed to make left turns.
