NASA · Aviation Safety Reporting System
An Air Carrier pilot reported GEG TRACON vectored them to base leg for a Visual Approach to MSO at a position and altitude that prevented them from flying a stabilized approach. Reporter states this is a recurring issue at this airport.
What is ASRS?
The Aviation Safety Reporting System is NASA's voluntary, confidential, non- punitive incident-reporting system, established 1976. Pilots, controllers, dispatchers, and maintenance technicians file reports describing safety- relevant events. NASA de-identifies every report before adding it to the public database. Reports are not investigated by NASA, the FAA, or the NTSB — they represent the reporter's perspective.
Pilot narrative
Verbatim from the de-identified NASA record. First-person account by the
reporter. NASA strips identifying details (names, company, specific time);
anonymization placeholders are ZZZ,
X, Y.
We were vectored off of the descent and told to expect a visual approach to Runway 30 into MSO behind an Air Carrier Y flight. Rather than clear us for the RNAV visual or the RNP approach, Spokane Approach wanted to give us vectors. He vectored us to a base leg that was 7.5 miles from the end of the runway in significant terrain, left us at 8800 ft. (5,600 ft. AGL) and cleared us for the visual. I slowed and configured the plane as fast as I could but could not descend fast enough to achieve a stabilized approach by 1,000 feet so I initiated a go-around. These unsafe vectors have happened to me several times in the past going into MSO. Approach puts pilots in precarious positions and then clears them for the visual approach expecting the pilots to fix the situation that Approach created.
NASA classification — Anomalies
- ATC Issue
- Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural
- Inflight Event / Encounter
NASA classification — Assessments
- Contributing Factors / Situations
- Human Factors · Procedure
- Primary Problem
- Procedure
ASRS reports are voluntarily submitted, de-identified by NASA, and represent the reporter's perspective. The presence of reports on a topic cannot be used to infer prevalence in the National Airspace System. The authoritative source is the NASA ASRS Database Online at asrs.arc.nasa.gov ↗.