AIRSPACE INFORMATION (Continued)
Airspace - U.S.
Class A
High Chart Only
Controlled
Airspace
Class B
Low Chart Only
Controlled
Airspace
Mode C Area
Low Chart Only
Controlled
Airspace
Open Area (White)
That airspace from 18,000’ MSL to and including FL 600,
including the airspace overflying the waters within 12 NM
of the coast of the contiguous United States and Alaska
and designated offshore areas, excluding Santa Barbara
Island, Farallon Island, the airspace south of latitude
25° 04’00” N, the Alaska peninsula west of longitude
160°00’00” W, and the airspace less than 1,500’ AGL.
That airspace from 18,000’ MSL to and including FL
450, including Santa Barbara Island, Farallon Island, the
Alaska peninsula west of longitude 160°00’00” W, and
designated offshore areas.
Screened Blue with a Solid Blue Outline
ODE C & ADS-B OUT
30 NM
30 NM
MODE C & ADS-B OUT
That airspace from the surface to 10,000’ MSL (unless
otherwise designated) surrounding the nation’s busi-
est airports. Each Class B airspace area is individually
tailored and consists of a surface area and two or more
layers.
A Solid Blue Outline
That airspace within 30 NM of the primary airports of
Class B airspace and within 10 NM of designated airports.
Mode-C transponder and ADS-B Out equipment is re-
quired. (See FAR 91.215)
Example:
MODE C & ADS-B OUT
ODE C & ADS-B OUT
Example:
See Chart example above.
FAA Chart Users’ Guide - IFR Enroute Symbology
CLASS C
Low Chart Only
Controlled Air-
space
CLASS D
Low Chart Only
Controlled Air-
space
Screened Blue with a Solid Blue Dashed Outline
That airspace from the surface to 4,000’ (unless other-
wise designated) above the elevation of selected airports
(charted in MSL). The normal radius of the outer limits of
Class C airspace is 10NM. Class C airspace is also indi-
cated by the letter C in a box following the airport name.
Open Area (White)
That airspace from the surface to 2,500’ unless otherwise
designated) above the airport elevation (charted in MSL),
surrounding those airports that have an operational con-
trol tower. Class D airspace is indicated by the letter D in
a box following the airport name.
Example:
Example:
AIRSPACE INFORMATION (Continued)
Airspace - U.S. (Continued)
FAA Chart Users’ Guide - IFR Enroute Symbology
Airspace Information (Continued)
AIRSPACE - U.S.
CLASS E
Low Chart Only
Controlled Air-
space
CLASS G
High and Low
Chart
Uncontrolled
Airspace
Open Area (White)
The controlled airspace below 14,500’ MSL that is not
Class B, C or D.
Federal Airways from 1,200’ AGL to but not including
18,000’ MSL (unless otherwise specified).
Other designated control areas below 14,500’ MSL.
Not Charted
That airspace from 14,500’ MSL to but not including
18,000’ MSL, including the airspace overflying the waters
within 12 NM of the coast of the contiguous United States
and Alaska and designated offshore areas, excluding the
Alaska peninsula west of longitude 160°00’00” W, and the
airspace less than 1,500’ AGL.
Screened Brown Area
Low Altitude
That portion of the airspace below 14,500’ MSL that has
not been designated as Class B, C, D or E Airspace.
High Altitude
That portion of the airspace from 18,000’ MSL and above
that has not been designated as Class A airspace.
Example:
FAA Chart Users’ Guide - IFR Enroute Symbology
AIRSPACE INFORMATION (Continued)
Special Use Airspace - U.S.
Low and High
Charts
Low Charts Only
P - Prohibited Area
R - Restricted Area
W - Warning Area
See Airspace Tabulation on each chart for complete
documentation information on:
Area Identification
Effective Altitude
Operating Times
Controlling Agency Voice Call
A - Alert Area
* Alert Areas do not extend into Class A, B, C and D air-
space, or Class E airport surface areas.
MOA - Military Operations Area
See Airspace Tabulation on each chart for complete
documentation information on:
Area Identification
Effective Altitude
Operating Times
Controlling Agency Voice Call
Example: P-56 -
Washington DC, Area A-1 Chart
Example: P-40 and R-4009 -
Washington DC, Area A-1 Chart
Example: R3601A -
Example: W-50
FAA Chart Users’ Guide - IFR Enroute Symbology
AIRSPACE INFORMATION (Continued)
Off Route Obstruction Clearance Altitude (OROCA)
Low Charts Only OROCA is computed similarly to the Maximum Elevation
Figure (MEF) found on Visual charts except that it pro-
vides an additional vertical buffer of 1,000 feet in desig-
nated non-mountainous areas and a 2,000 foot vertical
buffer in designated mountainous areas within the United
States.
Example: 12,500 feet
Example: Low L-13 Chart
Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA)
Low and High
Charts
SFRA Symbology Example: Low Chart (Washington Area Chart)
Example: High Chart (H-12)
FAA Chart Users’ Guide - IFR Enroute Symbology
Cruising Altitudes - Low Charts - U.S. Only
IFR outside controlled airspace.
IFR within controlled airspace as
assigned by ATC.
ALL courses are magnetic.
VFR above 3000’ AGL
unless otherwise
authorized by ATC.
Cruising Altitudes - High Charts - U.S. Only
IFR within controlled airspace 18,000’ MSL to FL280
as assigned by ATC
All courses are magnetic.
VFR or VFR On Top
add 500’
No VFR flights within
Class A Airspace above
3000’ AGL unless
otherwise authorized
RVSM Levels FL290 to FL410 FL430 and above
No VFR or VFR On Top
authorized above FL285 in
RVSM airspace.
NAVIGATIONAL AND PROCEDURAL INFORMATION
FAA Chart Users’ Guide - IFR Enroute Symbology
MORSE CODE
ISOGONIC LINE AND LOW/HIGH CHARTS
VALUE
ENLARGEMENT AREA
TIME ZONE
All time is Coordinated Universal
Time (UTC)
During periods of Day-
lights Savings Time (DT),
effective hours will be one
hour earlier than shown.
All states observe DT ex-
cept Arizona and Hawaii
MATCH MARK LOW/HIGH CHARTS
HYDROGRAPHY
SHORELINES
TOPOGRAPHY
TERRAIN
Area Charts
CULTURE
Boundaries
LOW/HIGH ALTITUDEInternational
U.S./Russia Maritime Line LOW/HIGH ALTITUDE
Date Line LOW/HIGH ALTITUDE
Navigational and Procedural Information (Continued)
FAA Chart Users’ Guide - IFR Enroute Symbology
FAA Chart Users’ Guide - IFR Enroute Symbology
U.S. TERMINAL PROCEDURES PUBLICATION
The U.S. Terminal Procedures Publication (TPPs) includes the Instrument Approach Procedures (IAPs), Departure Proce-
dures (DPs) charts, Standard Terminal Arrival (STAR) charts, Charted Visual Flight Procedure (CVFP) charts, and Airport
Diagrams. Also included are Takeoff Minimums, (Obstacle) Departure Procedures, Diverse Vector Area (RADAR Vectors),
RADAR and Alternate Minimum textual procedures.
EXPLANATION OF TPP TERMS AND SYMBOLS
The information and examples in this section are based primarily on the IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) Terminal Proce-
dures Publication (TPP). The publication legends list aeronautical symbols with a brief description of what each symbol
depicts. This section will provide more detailed information of some of the symbols and how they are used on TPP charts.
FAA Terminal charts are prepared in accordance with specifications of the Interagency Air Committee (IAC) and their sup-
porting technical groups for the purpose of standardization, which are approved by representatives of the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), and the Department of Defense (DoD).
The Terminal Procedure Publication is made up of the following charts:
• Instrument Approach Procedure (IAP) Charts
• Airport Diagrams
• Departure Procedures (DP)
• Standard Terminal Arrival (STAR) Charts
• Charted Visual Flight Procedure (CVFP) Charts
FAA Chart Users’ Guide - Terminal Procedures Publication (TPP) - Terms
INSTRUMENT APPROACH PROCEDURE CHART
The IAPs (charts) are divided into various sections:
Margin Identification Information Profile View
Briefing Strip Information Landing Minimums
Planview Airport Sketch
Missed Approach Information
Planview
Brie/f_ing Strip
Information
Pro/f_ile
Landing
Minimums
Margin Identi/f_ication
Information
Airport
Sketch
NOT FOR NAVIGATION
SE-3, 03 MAR 2016 to 31 MAR 2016
SE-3, 03 MAR 2016 to 31 MAR 2016
FAA Chart Users’ Guide - Terminal Procedures Publication (TPP) - Terms
Margin Identification Information
The margin identification at the top, bottom, and sides of the chart provides information about the airport location, proce-
dure identification, and chart currency. The charts are organized by city first, then airport name and state, with the excep-
tion of military charts, which are organized by airport name. Going from the top of the chart, reading from left to right, and
going down the chart, Margin Identification Information is organized in the following way.
The hash marks along the top and bottom borders of military Instrument Approach Charts indicate that the procedure
was designed using High Altitude criteria contained in FAA Order 8260.3. These procedures are designed to support high
performance military aircraft operations and are not intended for civilian use.
FAA Chart Users’ Guide - Terminal Procedures Publication (TPP) - Terms
Top Margin Information:
The city and state with which the airport is associated are located on both the top and bottom margins.
At the center of the top margin is the FAA numbering system. This Approach and Landing (AL) number is followed by the
organization responsible for the procedure in parentheses, e.g., AL-18 (FAA). Military procedures do no show an AL num-
ber, but do show the appropriate authority for the procedure, e.g., (USAF).
The procedure title is located on both the top and bottom margins. It is derived from the type of navigational facility that is
providing the final approach course guidance. The title is abbreviated, e.g. ILS, RNAV, NDB, etc. For airports with parallel
runways and simultaneous approach procedures, “L”, “R” or “C” follows the runway number to distinguish between left,
right, and center runways.
The airport name is shown on both the top and bottom margins below the procedure title. The airport identifier is shown in
parentheses following the airport name. Airports outside the contiguous United States will be shown with the FAA desig-
nated identifier followed by the ICAO location identifier.
The Date of Latest Revision is shown on the top margin above the procedure title. The Date of Latest Revision identifies
the Julian date the chart was last revised for any reason. The first two digits indicate the year, the last three digits indicate
the day of the year (001 to 365/6).
Year|Day of Year
Side Margin Information:
The side margins show the volume identification, i.e. SW-3, followed by the current issue date and the next issue date,
e.g. SW-3, 21 JUL 2016 to 15 SEP 2016.
Bottom Margin Information:
The FAA Procedure Amendment Number, located on the left bottom margin below the City, State, represents the most
current amendment of a given procedure. The Procedure Amendment Effective Date represents the AIRAC cycle date on
which the procedure amendment was incorporated into the chart. Updates to the amendment number and effective date
represent procedural/criteria revisions to the charted procedure, e.g., course, fix, altitude, minima, etc.
Example: Original Procedure Date
FAA Chart Users’ Guide - Terminal Procedures Publication (TPP) - Terms
Example: Amendment Procedure Date
The coordinates for the airport reference point are located at the center of the bottom margin.
BRIEFING STRIP INFORMATION
At the top of every TPP is the Briefing Strip that consists of three stacked strips of information immediately above the plan-
view. Information varies depending upon the type of procedure.
Top Brie/f_ing Strip
Middle Brie/f_ing Strip
Communications Brie/f_ing Strip
Top Briefing Strip
The top briefing strip contains procedural information in three separate boxes, in the following sequence from left to right:
1 2 3
NAVAID
Info
• Box 1: Primary Procedure Navigation Information: The primary navigation type (VOR, LOC, NDB, RNAV, etc.)
with its identifier and frequency/channel. If applicable, WAAS, the WAAS Channel Number, and the WAAS Refer-
ence Path indicator are shown stacked top to bottom. If the primary navigation type is GBAS, then the following
information is shown, stacked top to bottom: GBAS, CH NNNN, RPI XXXX. If there is not a primary Navigation
Box required, the first box is removed.
• Box 2: Final Approach Course Information. The inbound Approach Course (APP CRS) is shown.
• Box 3: Runway Landing Information: Stacked top to bottom, the runway landing distance (Rwy Ldg), the
Touchdown Zone Elevation (TDZE), and the Airport Elevation (Apt Elev) are shown. Runway landing distance is
determined by comparing the total runway length with the displaced threshold accounted for against the published
Declared Distance Landing Distance Available (LDA). The shortest of these lengths, either the published Declared
Distance LDA or the total runway length (minus displaced threshold) on the approach end of the runway, will be
charted.
Top Briefing Strip Examples:
Ground based NAVAID:
FAA Chart Users’ Guide - Terminal Procedures Publication (TPP) - Terms
RNAV-WAAS:
GBAS:
No Primary NAVAID box:
Circling Approach:
Sidestep Procedure:
Middle Briefing Strip
The middle briefing strip may contain information in up to three separate boxes, when available, in the following sequence
from left to right:
1 2 3
NOTES BOX MISSED APPROACH
PROCEDURE TEXT BOX
APPROACH
LIGHTING
SYSTEM
• Box 1: Notes Box: contains procedure notes, Equipment/Requirements Notes box and Takeoff, Alternate, RA-
DAR, WAAS, and/or Cold Weather indicators (details provided below under Notes Box).
• Box 2: Approach Lighting System Box (when applicable): shows the approach lighting system name and
charting icon. Multiple approach lighting systems may be shown for approaches that have straight-in minimums
for parallel runways.
• Box 3: Missed Approach Procedure Text Box: The full textual description of the missed approach procedure is
provided here.
FAA Chart Users’ Guide - Terminal Procedures Publication (TPP) - Terms
Notes Box
Procedure Equipment Requirements Notes Box
Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) Requirements and ground-based Equipment Requirements are displayed in sepa-
rate, standardized notes boxes. For procedures with PBN elements, the PBN box contains the procedure’s navigation
specification(s). If required, specific sensors or infrastructure needed for the navigation solution, additional or advanced
functional requirements, and the minimum Required Navigation Performance (RNP) value and any amplifying remarks
will also be included. Items listed in this PBN box are REQUIRED. The separate Equipment Requirements Box will list
ground-based equipment requirements.
On procedures with both PBN elements and ground-based equipment requirements, the PBN requirements box is listed
first.
Remote Altimeter Airport Notes
Approach minimums are based on the local altimeter setting for that airport unless annotated otherwise. When more than
one altimeter source is authorized, and the minima are different, they will be shown by separate lines in the approach
minima box or as a note in the briefing strip; e.g., use MHK altimeter setting; when not available use SLN altimeter setting
and increase all MDAs 40 feet. The altimeter source location is referenced by the FAA airport identifier. An airport outside
the contiguous U.S. will use both the FAA and ICAO identifiers. Until all charts reference the airport identifier, the notes
may contain altimeter sources referenced by city name, city and state, or airport name.
Notes Symbols
Several different symbols may appear within the Notes Box:
An entry is published in the Takeoff Minimums, (Obstacle) Departure Procedures, and Diverse Vector Area
(Radar Vectors) section of the TPP.
Non-standard IFR alternate minimums exist. Refer to IFR Alternate Airport Minimums section of the TPP.
The IAP may not be used as an alternate due to unmonitored facility, absence of weather reporting service, or
lack of adequate navigation coverage. IAPs designated with this symbol are not listed in the IFR Alternate
Minimums section of the TPP.
WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System)
Cold Temperature Airport
The negative
within a black square box symbol shown in the Notes section below any “A” or “T” Symbol indicates that
outages of the WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) vertical guidance may occur daily at this location due to initial
system limitations. WAAS NOTAMs for vertical outages are not provided for this approach. Use LNAV minima for flight
planning at these locations, whether as a destination or alternate. For flight operations at these locations, when the WAAS
avionics indicate that LNAV/VNAV or LPV service is available, then vertical guidance may be used to complete the ap-
proach using the displayed level of service. Should an outage occur during the procedure, reversion to LNAV minima may
be required.
FAA Chart Users’ Guide - Terminal Procedures Publication (TPP) - Terms
When appears in the Notes section below all other symbols it indicates a cold temperature altitude correction is
required at that airport when the reported temperature is at or below the published temperature. Advise ATC with alti-
tude correction. Advising ATC with altitude corrections is not required in the final segment. See Aeronautical Information
Manual (AIM), Chapter 7, for guidance and additional information. For a complete list of cold temperature airports, see
https://aeronav.faa.gov/d-tpp/Cold_Temp_Airports.pdf.
When “ASR”, “PAR” or “ASR/PAR” appear in the Note section immediately below the “T” and “A” symbols it indicates there
are published Radar Instrument Approach Minimums. Where radar is approved for approach control service, it is used
not only for radar approaches (Airport Surveillance Radar [ASR] and Precision Approach Radar [PAR]) but is also used to
provide vectors in conjunction with published non-radar approaches based on radio NAVAIDs (ILS, VOR, NDB, TACAN).
Radar vectors can provide course guidance and expedite traffic to the final approach course of any established IAP or to
the traffic pattern for a visual approach.
Bottom Briefing Strip (Communications Information)
The communications briefing strip contains communication information when available, in separate boxes, listed from left
to right in the order that they would be used during arrival with the tower frequency box bolded:
• ATIS, D-ATIS, AFIS (AK Only) or ASOS/AWOS frequencies (when available, ATIS or AFIS will be the only local
weather frequency/s published)
• The primary Approach Control (APP CON) name and frequencies; when the primary approach service is provided
by other than Approach Control, e.g. FSS (Radio), Tower, Center, the appropriate air traffic facility call name is
provided
• The Control Tower (TOWER) name and frequencies, to include Precision Radar Monitoring (PRM) and frequency
• Ground Control (GND CON) frequencies
• Clearance Delivery (CLNC DEL) frequencies; where a Control Tower does not exist or is part-time, a remoted
CLNC DEL may be listed.
• Ground Communications Outlet (GCO) frequency
• Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF), shown in parentheses when shares a frequency, e.g. UNICOM
122.8 (CTAF)
• UNICOM or AUNICOM frequency
• Controller Pilot Data Link Communication (CPDLC)
Note: Part-time operations will be annotated with a star. Check Chart Supplement for times of operation.
PLANVIEW
The planview of the IAP charts provides an overhead view of the entire instrument approach procedure.
The data on the planview is shown to scale, unless concentric rings, scale breaks or an inset have been used.
FAA Chart Users’ Guide - Terminal Procedures Publication (TPP) - Terms
Planview Items
Approach Segments Hydrography
NAVAIDs International Boundary
Area Navigation (RNAV) Waypoints Obstacles (Man-made, Terrain and Vegetation)
Restrictive Airspeeds Special Use Airspace
Restrictive Altitudes Minimum Safe Altitude
Holding Patterns and Procedure Turns Terminal Arrival Areas
Airports Helicopter (Copter) Procedures
Relief (Terrain Features)
Approach Segments
The planview includes a graphical depiction of procedure entry through missed approach.