contact approach

center_greenhorn You send em ill blend em

This is the exact reason for the contact approach. The requirement is so that an aircraft is not trying to get into a airport where no approach is available.

So I'm flying to XYZ and they only have a gps approach, weather is broken 900, 2 mi. I look down and see the ground and know the area very well. I cannot shoot the approach, so i request the contact approach. Maintain contact with the ground and land

Now knowing he will be wondering what the hell to do when he loses contact with the ground. I am proactive and prior to issuing the clearance to maintain runway heading and climb to xxx when executing the missed.

PHRASEOLOGY-
CLEARED CONTACT APPROACH,

And if required,
AT OR BELOW (altitude) (routing).

IF NOT POSSIBLE, (alternative procedures), AND ADVISE.

joecoolinsc Rookie Spartanburg, SC

center_greenhorn wrote: The requirement is so that an aircraft is not trying to get into a airport where no approach is available.

This has been here long enough for some pilots to respond to, but I was hoping for something more precise before suggesting some possibilities.

The AIM says there has to be an IAP published for the airport. It does not go so far as to say it has to be operational like it says in the .65

During a contact approach, the pilot assumes responsibility for terrain clearance. Is it possible that the existence of an IAP assists the pilot in assuming that responsibility in some way? Is it further possible that the existence of an IAP also means that the controlled airspace over and around the airport is different, which also may be a factor in the availabilty of a contact approach?

It is quite clear that a contact approach cannot be used at a non-instrument airport. As a controller, I am not responsible to know every rule a pilot is required to follow. Just as pilots are not required to know every rule I must follow.

In my opinion the controlled airspace for instrument airports factors in. I can't know for sure because the rule was written long before I became a controller.