Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

3 Answers

“NIGHT LANDING NA” in approach plate notes

Asked by: 5528 views Instrument Rating

Assuming that you are flying at night... 1) Can you land on the runways in VFR if you weren't IFR and didn't shoot an approach? Does the note mean that you cannot land on those runways at night no matter what? 3) Can you shoot a circling approach that is based on the NA runway? For instance, if you see "NIGHT LANDING: RWY 9, 18, 36 NA" in the notes of RNAV 9, can you shoot the RNAV approach if you're going to circle to RWY 27?

3 Answers

  1. Best Answer


    John D Collins on Mar 26, 2015

    1) Yes, you are not restricted from using the runway based on an IFR approach, but the most likely reason it is NA at night is because there are unlit obstacles on final that penetrate a 20 to 1 slope. A VFR airplane can hit them just as easily as an IFR airplane with the runway in sight while descending from the MDA.

    2) No. However, it does not make it wise. I am more comfortable if i am familiar with the airport and its approaches to the runway and where the unlit obstacles are located.

    3) The note is there because of the reason stated in number 1. So if the runway is not included in the list of NA runways, then it doesn’t have the issue, so it is safe to use it at night.

    +2 Votes Thumb up 2 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Drew on Mar 26, 2015

    Thank you, John.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. Mark Kolber on Mar 28, 2015

    Drew, a note on an approach plate applies to the approach. It doesn’t apply to anything else.

    If it applies to all approaches to that airport, the note will appear on all the approach plates for that airport. If it applies to VFR as well as IFR ops, in addition to being on every approach plate, it will also be in the AFD.

    I’m not sure I agree with John on the “wise” part in #2. I’m pretty sure I’ve landed VFR at night on runways that had “NA at night” for a runway on the approach plate, whether for circling or some other procedure. I’ve even landed at night on runways at airports that had no instrument approach at all! Come to think of it, how would a VFR pilot even know the instrument approach chart for that runway said landing on a certain runway was NA at night?

    +2 Votes Thumb up 2 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

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.