CAT IIIc and other questions....

[PLazarus 0]

Hello everyone...I have a few real world questions I am interested in.CAT IIIc allows for zero visability landings.... no DH, 0/0. Does anyone know if there are any airports certified yet? Also are any airlines/aircraft certifed as well? Are airports/airlines moving towards this capability?About certifications. I know the majority of the people here are from the USA. Obviously the certifying authority is the FAA. They govern US carriers and US airports/airspace. I know the CAA are the UK body. I assume all counties have a governing body. The rules are going to vary. If I am flying from Chile to Australia with a Chilean carrier... then the rules governing everything to do with the flight would only be relevent to the the Chilean body and the Australian body right? If my flight took me into New Zealand airspace then do their rules have to be observed as well? I assume any FAA rules have nothing to do with that flight/carrier? ( assuming that carrier does not fly to USA ).Thanks for any information.Paul

[Cessnaflyer 56]

I know Seattle is CAT IIIc and has been for almost three years now. I believe Alaska Airlines operates off of synthetic vision through the HUD to be able to do this though. For the air certification of airspace in other countries it is different but many are standardized off of the ICAO systems and I believe the United States is still one of the participating countries that isn't the closest to international standards.

[mgh 89]

The requirements are set out by ICAO in Annex 10 AERONAUTICAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS Volume 1 RADIO NAVIGATION AIDS 2.1.1. so they should be internationally applicable but under control of the national authorities.In the UK Cat II and III operations are only allowed by operators whose minima have been accepted by the CAA.

[UDflyer 0]

I was looking through some of my Jeppesen approach plates, and I saw that O'Hare, Des Moines, Minneapolis, St. Louis, and Rockford, IL have CAT IIIc approaches. It looks like most of the airports with a large amount of cargo flights, as in the case of Rockford and Des Moines, have a CAT IIIc ILS.

[greggerm 312]

Interestingly enough, it would appear that KPVD also has a IIIc approach to Runway 5 now too - it was a IIIb for seemingly a long time.

[mgh 89]

I far as I am aware a runway is classified simply as Cat III and whether Cat IIIA, B, or C operations could be carried out depends on the aircraft equipment and certification, the crew certification and the opertor's minima being accepted by the national authority. This view is supported by the UK Civil Aviation Authority's definition in CAP 670:"Facility Performance Category III ILS: An ILS which, with the aid of ancillary equipment where necessary, provides guidance information from the coverage limit of the facility to, and along the runway.Category II doesn't require guidance along the runwayIt's also supported by the AIP for Gatwick (EGKK) where in Section 2.15 runways 08R/26L are simply said to be ILS CAT III.