How to read an instrument approach plate
Every approach chart in the United States is laid out the same way, in the same order. Learn the order once and any plate becomes a form you already know how to fill in.
Last updated August 2026
An approach plate answers four questions: how do I get established, how low may I go, what do I need to see to land, and what do I do if I do not see it. The chart is organised top to bottom in roughly that order.
1. The briefing strip
The band across the top carries almost everything you need to set up the aircraft: the approach name, the primary navigation frequency, the final approach course, the glideslope or minimum descent altitude, the touchdown zone and airport elevation, and the missed approach instructions in plain text.
The approach name itself tells you a lot. ILS RWY 16L is a precision approach to a specific runway. RNAV (GPS) RWY 34 is a satellite-based approach. A letter instead of a runway number — VOR-A — means the final course is not aligned closely enough with any runway to permit a straight-in, so it is circling-only.
Notes in this band matter disproportionately. "Circling NA at night", "GPS required", "Procedure NA for arrivals on V495 southbound" — these are the constraints that make an otherwise legal approach illegal for you today.
2. The plan view
The overhead picture: the approach course, the fixes along it, terrain and obstacles, and any holding patterns. The key fixes, in the order you meet them:
| Fix | Name | What happens there |
|---|---|---|
| IAF | Initial approach fix | Where the published approach begins |
| IF | Intermediate fix | Established inbound; descent continues |
| FAF | Final approach fix | Begin final descent. On an ILS this is glideslope intercept |
| MAP | Missed approach point | Decide: land, or go missed |
The circle around the plan view usually carries MSA — minimum safe altitude — divided into sectors. That is an emergency figure giving 1,000 feet of obstacle clearance within 25 nautical miles of the reference point. It is not a routing altitude, and it does not guarantee navigation signal coverage. It is what you climb to when you have lost the plot and need a number that keeps you off the rocks.
3. The profile view
The same approach seen from the side. It shows the descent as a stepped or sloped path, with an altitude at each fix, and the glideslope angle where there is one.
Watch the difference between the two kinds of number. An altitude with a line under it is a minimum — do not go below. A line over it is a maximum. Numbers in between with lines above and below are windows. On a non-precision approach the profile is a series of steps, and descending early to the next step before passing its fix is one of the more common ways to hit something.
4. Minimums
The table near the bottom gives the lowest altitude you may descend to and the visibility required, by approach category. Category is based on your aircraft's approach speed — most light singles are Category A.
- DA / DH — decision altitude on a precision approach. At this altitude you either see the runway environment or you go missed. You will descend slightly below it during the go-around, and that is expected.
- MDA — minimum descent altitude on a non-precision approach. You may level off here and continue to the MAP, but you may not descend below it without the required visual references.
- Circling minimums — usually higher, and worth reading carefully, because circling in low visibility at night is among the least forgiving things in instrument flying.
Visibility, not ceiling, is what governs whether you may begin the approach under most operating rules. A reported ceiling below minimums does not by itself prohibit the attempt for Part 91 — but do think hard about what you are actually planning to accomplish.
5. The airport diagram
The bottom of the plate shows the runway layout, lighting, and often the time-and-distance table for flying the final segment at a given groundspeed on a non-precision approach.
Briefing one, in order
- Name and currency — right approach, right airport, current cycle.
- Frequencies — set and identify the navaid.
- Final course — set it; check it against the runway heading.
- Altitudes — from the IAF down through each step to DA or MDA.
- Minimums — the number you will actually use, and the visibility.
- Missed approach — say it out loud before you start. This is the one item you will have no time to read when you actually need it.
Flying it in Flight Kneeboard
Open an airport, choose Procedure → Approach, and pick the approach. You can view the plate full screen, or select an initial approach fix and add it to your route — which draws the procedure on the moving map with each leg annotated (IAF, FAF, MAP, missed altitude), and georeferences the plate itself over the chart so you can watch the aircraft track the procedure. Plate opacity is adjustable, and the approach labels can be hidden if the map gets busy.
Georeferenced plates are an aid to situational awareness. They do not replace flying the published procedure using the certified navigation source in the aircraft.