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Pilot attempting to land at an airport without an IFR procedure descends below assigned altitude assuming he has permission to do so; which is below the MVA for the airport area.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1164915 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201404 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | MOT.TRACON |
| State Reference | ND |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Small Aircraft Low Wing 2 Eng Retractable Gear |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Route In Use | Direct |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100 Flight Crew Total 1300 Flight Crew Type 400 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
While descent into west hope; north dakota I requested a cruise clearance as no instrument approach procedure exists and I was unable to descend below the clouds at my current altitude. It was my understanding that a cruise clearance would let a pilot determine his own minimum IFR altitude; therefore allowing descent below the MVA. I was in contact with minot approach and requested cruise 3;000. The controller said unable; so I asked for cruise 3;600; my current altitude. He gave me cruise 3;600. At that point I began a descent below 3;600 on my way down to the appropriate IFR altitude of 1;000 ft above the highest obstacle.when I was at roughly 3;200 ft I was asked to say altitude. I told them and was instructed to immediately climb to 3;600. I was told I could not descent below 3;600 as that was their MVA. However they had still issued me a cruise clearance. I climbed back up to 3;600 and diverted to bottineau; north dakota since I could no longer get into west hope. I spoke to the controllers and tried to explain how I thought a cruise clearance worked. I am still not sure I was incorrect in my descent below 3;600. It appeared that there was a trainee controller and a supervisor. I landed in D09 without further incident.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Pilot attempting to land at an airport without an IFR procedure descends below assigned altitude assuming he has permission to do so; which is below the MVA for the airport area.
Narrative: While descent into West Hope; North Dakota I requested a cruise clearance as no instrument approach procedure exists and I was unable to descend below the clouds at my current altitude. It was my understanding that a cruise clearance would let a pilot determine his own minimum IFR altitude; therefore allowing descent below the MVA. I was in contact with Minot Approach and requested cruise 3;000. The Controller said unable; so I asked for cruise 3;600; my current altitude. He gave me cruise 3;600. At that point I began a descent below 3;600 on my way down to the appropriate IFR altitude of 1;000 FT above the highest obstacle.When I was at roughly 3;200 FT I was asked to say altitude. I told them and was instructed to immediately climb to 3;600. I was told I could not descent below 3;600 as that was their MVA. However they had still issued me a cruise clearance. I climbed back up to 3;600 and diverted to Bottineau; North Dakota since I could no longer get into West Hope. I spoke to the controllers and tried to explain how I thought a cruise clearance worked. I am still not sure I was incorrect in my descent below 3;600. It appeared that there was a trainee controller and a supervisor. I landed in D09 without further incident.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.