An air carrier first officer reported that some captains are failing to fly the complete NDB approac...

Narrative:

Flight management needs to be aware of the situation that is going on down in tlpl. There is only an NDB approach available because the VOR is out of service and has been for a year. Unless you are in an [avionics upgraded] aircraft; you have to fly the full NDB approach. There is no radar coverage. Many pilots do not seem to be aware of the critical nature of flying to known fixes and doing what the controller expects from them in a non-radar environment. There is usually other traffic in the area; and you can't go around making things up as you go. Many pilots seem to feel uncomfortable flying the full NDB approach. This may be because we do not practice them in training. Others just seem lazy and do not want to do the course reversal etc. Many captains want to do a 'hybrid' approach in there instead of doing the full approach. Some ask for direct to the 10 mile RNAV approach fix and descend; trying to get a visual on the field. Some pilots try to convince themselves that we are legal to shoot an RNAV approach in a non-[avionics upgraded] aircraft. Another problem with the NDB at uvf is this: the NDB is a timed approach at uvf and once you reach the MDA - you may level off miles out from the field and according to our manual - you are supposed to go map and it may be a ridiculously far out point.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier First Officer reported that some captains are failing to fly the complete NDB approaches at TLPL in aircraft not equipped to fly RNAV approaches.

Narrative: Flight management needs to be aware of the situation that is going on down in TLPL. There is only an NDB approach available because the VOR is out of service and has been for a year. Unless you are in an [Avionics Upgraded] aircraft; you have to fly the full NDB approach. There is no radar coverage. Many pilots do not seem to be aware of the critical nature of flying to known fixes and doing what the controller expects from them in a non-radar environment. There is usually other traffic in the area; and you can't go around making things up as you go. Many pilots seem to feel uncomfortable flying the full NDB approach. This may be because we do not practice them in training. Others just seem lazy and do not want to do the course reversal etc. Many captains want to do a 'hybrid' approach in there instead of doing the full approach. Some ask for direct to the 10 mile RNAV approach fix and descend; trying to get a visual on the field. Some pilots try to convince themselves that we are legal to shoot an RNAV approach in a non-[Avionics Upgraded] aircraft. Another problem with the NDB at UVF is this: The NDB is a timed approach at UVF and once you reach the MDA - you may level off miles out from the field and according to our manual - you are supposed to go MAP and it may be a ridiculously far out point.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

Attributes
ACN	926068
Time
Date	201012
Place
Locale Reference	TLPL.Tower
State Reference	FO
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Route In Use	Other NDB Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	First Officer
Events
Anomaly	Other Unwanted Situation

An air carrier first officer reported that some captains are failing to fly the complete NDB approaches at tlpl in aircraft not equipped to fly RNAV approaches.