Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

3 Answers

Missed Approach Hold and lost of communcations

Asked by: 5123 views Airspace, FAA Regulations, Instrument Rating, Private Pilot

Assume that I have been release to execute "RNAV (GPS) RWY 17 GIDDINGS-LEE COUNTY (GYB)" and I do not spot the runway at missed approach point. On execution of the missed approach, I have full communications failure. Once established in the hold and squawking 7600, I appear to have reached my clearance limit. I can retry an approach at KGYB but at what point does ATC expect me to proceed to my filed ALT? Which routing would be best? Victor airways or GPS Direct?

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

3 Answers



  1. John D. Collins on Aug 13, 2013

    ATC will just have to figure out how you decide to navigate to your alternate. You do what you decide is the safest under the circumstances. Of course if you encounter VFR conditions and can land under VFR along the route to the alternate, you are required to do so.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Rusty Allen on Aug 13, 2013

    I got my IFR ticket 20yrs ago and starting to get active again after a long pause. Back then the thinking for routing to the ALT was to grab your posterior and wish for luck. With GPS has the thinking changed? Would a GPS direct route and above OROCA be a good plan? I see the positives being “less conflicts with the Victor Airways”, “Least Fuel route”, and “Something that ATC can figure out what you are doing.”

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. Mark Kolber on Aug 13, 2013

    Rusty, even if you wanted to literally follow the regs on lost communications, you’ll notice that, for all the detail on route and altitude to the =destination=, there’s not one word about an alternate. Not how. Not at what altitude. Not even whether you need to go to the filed alternate or somewhere else.

    The bottom line is what John said – you do what you decide is the safest under the circumstances.

    Your 7600 (or maybe even 7600 followed by 7700) squawk (if you still have transponder capability) or suddenly unidentified disappearance from the scope is going to alert ATC that something is up. If you are in a radar environment, your transponder or primary return is going to tell ATC something about your movements so they can move potentially clear traffic out of the way.

    IMO, with GPS, in those situations where I would not encounter visual conditions, take the most direct route to an alternate consistent with safety – altitude, terrain, airspace (even with ATC watching, I’m not sure I’d use a busy Class C or B as my first choice), and consider “something that ATC can figure out” on the bottom on my list of priorities.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.