One of the things that most infuriates Jim Morton when he’s on his job is when he hears ATC telling nearby traffic, “Caution: FAA practice instrument approaches under way.” Morton is an FAA airspace system inspection pilot, and he and his crew must frequently emphasize to ATC and pilots that “we are not shooting practice approaches.” His mission is flight checking the accuracy of electronic navaids in the U.S. and abroad. When ATC and other pilots hear “this is an FAA flight check” on the frequency, they should be aware that navaid inspections are in progress, and these checks involve far more than just a “practice approach.”
Flight Check airplanes fly preplanned low-altitude patterns–such as grids, orbits, DME arcs, tracks, instrument approaches and low (50 ft agl) passes along the full length of the runway–often in the opposite direction of the normal traffic flow. At controlled airports, these flights typically receive special handling by ATC. At nontower airports, the safe completion of navaid inspections depends on pilot awareness and cooperation when “flight check” is heard on the frequency.
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