AMC1 SPA.LVO.105(g) Specific approval criteria

SAFETY ASSESSMENT — MONITORING, DATA COLLECTION AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR APPROACH OPERATIONS

(a) The operator should monitor LVOs and operations with operational credits in order to validate the effectiveness of the applicable aircraft flight guidance systems, training, flight crew procedures, and aircraft maintenance programme, and to identify hazards.

(b) Data should be collected whenever an LVO or an operation with an operational credit is attempted regardless of whether the approach is abandoned, is unsatisfactory, or is concluded successfully. The data should include records of the following:

(1) occasions when it was not possible to commence an approach due to deficiencies or unserviceabilities of related airborne equipment;

(2) occasions when approaches were discontinued, including the reasons for discontinuing the approach and the height above the runway at which the approach was discontinued;

(3) occasions when system abnormalities required pilot intervention to ensure a continued approach or safe landing;

(4) landing performance, whether or not the aircraft landed satisfactorily within the desired touchdown area with acceptable lateral velocity or cross-track error. The approximate lateral and longitudinal position of the actual touchdown point in relation to the runway centre line and the runway threshold, respectively, should be recorded.

(c) Data about LVOs should be collected by means of the operator’s flight data monitoring programme supplemented by other means including reports submitted by flight crew. Operators that do not have a flight data monitoring programme should use reports submitted by flight crew as the primary means of gathering data.

(d) Performance indicators should include the following:

(1) the rate of unsuccessful low-visibility approaches, i.e. the number of attempted approaches terminating in discontinued approaches, approaches where pilot intervention was required to ensure a continued approach or safe landing or where landing performance was unsatisfactory, compared to the number of low-visibility approaches attempted;

(2) measures of performance of the airborne equipment for low-visibility approaches or operations with operational credits;

(3) safety performance indicators related to other specific risks associated with LVOs.

(e) The following information should be retained for at least 5 years:

(1) the total number of low-visibility approaches or operations with an operational approval attempted or completed, including practice approaches, by aircraft type; and

(2) reports of unsatisfactory approaches and/or landings, by runway and aircraft registration, in the following categories:

(i) airborne equipment faults;

(ii) ground facility difficulties;

(iii) missed approaches because of air traffic control (ATC) instructions; or

(iv) other reasons.