Some changes significantly alter the procedure enough to cause pilot confusion, so the existing procedure is cancelled and reissued, which resets the amendment number. Adding a glideslope to a localizer procedure or the relocation of the navaid used on final, changing the final course ground track, are examples of changes that would cause the procedure to be reissued.
All other procedural changes are handled through major and minor amendments which the FAA refers to as abbreviated amendments to the existing procedure. Minor amendments result in the addition or increase of an alphabetical suffix eg Amdt 2A and are limited to items that typically do not require changes to TERPS surfaces. Major amendments result in an increase in the amendment number eg Amdt 3 and cover everything else. For instance, deletion of a procedure segment may be accomplished through a minor amendment, but the addition of a new segment would require TERPS study and would result in a major amendment.
Likewise, a minor amendment could change charted magnetic courses due to magnetic variation since the ground track remains the same. However, if a fix is moved and changes the ground track, additional TERPS analysis is required and would necessitate a major amendment. From a pilot's perspective, if an approach plate indicates an amendment date that is later than what is contained in your database, there is no way for you to precisely determine what has changed. Some changes, like removing an initial approach fix, are fairly obvious, but otherwise are not.
For example, relocating fixes while retaining the same name is fairly common. If you were to load an old version of such a procedure in your GPS, the leg sequence might appear to correspond to the current procedure, but would lead you to the old position of the fix. It's easy for database updates to be out of sight and out of mind, only to surprise you with an expired data warning when you are all set to go, but it doesn't have to be so.
Also, if you use an iPad as an EFB with an app that alerts you when updates are available, you should consider those as a cue that your on-board database needs to be updated as well. While the techniques discussed here provide a way to determine whether a procedure contained in an expired database may safely be flown, the fact that a determination must be made at all implies that there is a significant chance that a given procedure may not be safely flown. Still, flying a procedure with an expired database can certainly get you out of a bind, so it's worthwhile to put into your IFR bag of tricks.
Note, though, that for you to determine the various dates for a procedure and determine whether you can use your expired database requires that you access current data somehow - either paper or electronic - so you might as well update the GPS to begin with. Is Expired Data Useable? Plates do have amendment info on the lower left corner, however. This info remains constant even when the date on the side changes unless the plate really was changed, of course.
And, just to make things even more confusing, they also sometimes have a cryptic date in the upper right corner not shown above that may be newer than the amendment info. We all just have to rely on the FAA accurately marking plates when changed. We do not recommend this, however, as it dramatically increases the download time. They are NOT expiration dates! Read what they really mean.
Like Like. I must be missing something here. What if they recently built a building or whatever , and increased minimums or revised the missed approach procedure. If you were using a an out-of-date plate, you would have no way of knowing this, and you would be flying the wrong approach.
Best to use the most current plate I would think. Hi Charlie. Actually it does. There is a different revision date and revision on the plate as described in the link below. Moreover, the FAA sends a list of all the plates that have been changed each cycle. We use that to mark the ones changed. Note: I just revised this info a little to mention that the FAA actually has 3 not 2 dates on each plate. The side is the useless print date, the lower left is the Amendment date last major change , and new the top right is an encoded date that is the last time ANY significant change was made that is, anything other than changing that print date on the side.
While each crew member may indeed have the same approach plate data it can create a confusion to the crew if they see different dates on their personal plate. Russ Roslewski on Dec 24, If you search for an airport you can get the publication schedule for upcoming amendments or new procedures as well as, once that date gets near, the actual source documents which include a list of what the changes are and a prototype approach chart. You can also access the forms which will tell you that many small things changed on this procedure — Magnetic Variation changes, missed approach, etc.
A pretty neat site. Mark Kolber on Dec 26, Sorry, Russ. Of course you can learn of changes to procedures before the next printing. Cialis canada on Mar 29, Keep up the good work! You know, many people are searching around for this information, you could aid them greatly.
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