For a visual you have to have the runway is sight from the beginning…
Now here is a thing I have often wondered but never found a reference to.
When you are doing a visual approach, from what point must you have the runway in sight? Common sense (to me) would say that it must be in sight before descending below MSA or being released to descend below MRVA, but what is the legal stance?
Can one be cleared for a visual approach without having the runway in sight (let’s say it is obvious it will be in due course). I have often been vectored for a visual approach, starting above a solid cloud layer and have been cleared for it at some point without being asked whether we had the field in sight.
I would assume that to ask for a visual approach you need to be visual with the runway in sight.
There are scenarios where the airfield could be clearly visible from above, but with low RVRs due to very shallow fog. If the airfield lacks lighting, the RVR could well be below minima, but you would be legal to do a visual, for which the min RVR is 800m.
Aeroplus, yes that would make sense of course, but occasionally it might not just work like that (perhaps incorrectly). For example, I remember going into an airport in the UK before and was asked from about 40 miles out if I wanted a visual. We couldn’t see the airfield at the time (completely VMC, both us and it just too far away) but we knew the area and exactly where it was, so we said yes and were promptly cleared for it. This was the scenario that caused me to wonder if that was technically correct. It has happened other times since that in similar and varying circumstances.
Just an edit to add for the avoidance of doubt that of course if at anytime it didn’t seem sensible then one should either not be asking for it or should be declining it if ATC give it to you.
In the US the typical wording was proceed direct airfield XYZ and report field in sight. Then when reporting the field in sight every time the controllers gave us instantly a visual approach. So “report field in sight” seemed to be the secret code for “expect visual approach”…
