[SystemSafety] Approaching Cape Town [off topic] and Tricky Airports [on topic]

[Peter Bernard Ladkin]

Please, Les, please do stop your lengthy running commentary about Lisa Blair's travails. I'm sure we
feel for her, but that's not the point. You noted it once, and that surely should be enough for
interested people to get in touch to continue a private discussion.

Brian's comment about airline risk management into Chambery is interesting. There are a bunch of
airlines who fly in there, according to Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chambéry_Airport
including Aeroflot, BA City Flyer, flybe, and SAS. The ILS descent angle for ILS RWY 18 is 4.46°,
50% steeper than the "usual" 3° glide slope (about one in twenty). Jeppesen plates at
http://vau.aero/navdb/chart/LFLB.pdf (this site is "Virtual Airlines of Ukraine", and says it
simulates flights operated by Ukrainian Airlines).

Chambery is pretty straightforward in comparison with Lugano, LUG or LSZA.

LSZA has regular service from Swiss, which flies in there with Dash8 Q-400 aircraft operated by
Austrian Airlines, as well as Etihad Regional to Geneva, operated by Darwin Airlines
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lugano_Airport . LSZA has specific qualification requirements for
instrument approaches and departures for pilots, aircraft and operators, described in
http://www.lugano-qualification.ch/files/lsza_aip_0813.pdf . It is in a narrow valley at the top of
a lake, with reportedly significant orographic atmospheric effects.

The glide slope on IGS RWY 1 is some 6.65° (somewhat steeper than one in ten), over twice the 3°
"normal". IGS is "instrument guidance system" and the designation is used in this case because (a)
the localiser is not aligned with the runway (localiser approach angle is 017°) so you need to be
visual at the end; and (b) the visibility/decision altitude requirements are dependent on the
capability of the aircraft. The visibility requirements are specified in the IGS RWY 1 chart as
between 3.2km for a decision altitude of about 1200 ft above the runway elevation and required climb
gradient of 9% (that's almost one in ten, so some 6°) and 7.7km for a decision altitude of about
3000 ft above runway elevation and climb gradient of 2.5% (1.4°). If you want to circle-to-land on
RWY 19, you can come in flatter using the localiser, but you have to be visual quite a way from the
airport. All charts are in the reference above.

EASA's Operational Evaluation Board Report concerning the Dassault Falcon 2000
https://www.easa.europa.eu/system/files/dfu/20120628%20Dassault%20Falcon%202000%20-%20First%20Issue%20-%20Final.pdf
states in Section 5, Steep Approach Aerodrome Requirements, that

[begin quote Section 5 in entirety]

Operators must comply with any aerodrome specific requirements for steep approaches (e.g. in London
City - EGLC).

Note: Pilots performing steep approaches at Lugano airport (LSZA) must be informed about the
Dassault letter titled "Falcon - Lettre de non-objection pour les approches de Lugano" (Reference
DGT-DTC/CER 568463 dated 22 June 2006). This letter specifies that Dassault has no objection
regarding the initial phase of the approach flown at 6.65° provided that the aircraft is operated in
accordance with the AFM or the associated operating manual, and that the operator has obtained
operational approval from the competent Authority.

[end quote]

ESA and the EGNOS Industrial Consortium performed a series of tests there of satellite-based
augmentation of the ground-based navaids and found they could reduce the conventionally-steep
approach glide path angle with their augmentation kit (Perrin et al., Journal of Navigation
59(2):177-185, May 2006.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-navigation/article/flying-egnos-approaches-in-the-swiss-alps/32AE308BFC30A5A2B86DA3A25FF81011
)

The result of all this is that there have been no fatal accidents at Lugano airport in the last
quarter century at least: https://aviation-safety.net/database/airport/airport.php?id=LUG

PBL

Prof. i.R. Peter Bernard Ladkin, Bielefeld, Germany
MoreInCommon
Je suis Charlie
Tel+msg +49 (0)521 880 7319  www.rvs-bi.de





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