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Continuing Below DA or MDA: The IFR “Gate” You Must Meet Every Time

Every instrument approach eventually funnels you into the same moment: you’re at DA (Decision Altitude) on a precision/vertical guidance approach or at MDA (Minimum Descent Altitude) on a non precision approach, and you need to decide whether you’re allowed—and able—to continue.


This isn’t a “feel” decision. There are specific criteria you must meet to go below DA/MDA, and knowing them cold makes you faster, calmer, and safer at minimums.



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First: Know what you’re flying (DA vs MDA)

DA (Decision Altitude)

Used on ILS, LPV, LNAV/VNAV, and similar procedures with vertical guidance. You descend on a glidepath to DA and then you either:

  • continue to land, or

  • go missed immediately.


MDA (Minimum Descent Altitude)

Used on non precision approaches (LOC, VOR, LNAV, etc.). You descend to MDA, treat it as a hard floor, and you can continue at MDA to the MAP while looking for the runway environment.


The big rule: You don’t go below DA/MDA just because you see “something”

To continue below DA/MDA, you need three things working together:

  1. You’re in the right position to land

  2. You have the required visual references

  3. You have the required visibility (flight visibility)


And you must be able to do it with a normal descent and normal maneuvers—not a dive, not a swerve, not a last-second save.


Criterion #1: You must have the required visual references in sight

This is the heart of the rule. You must have at least one of the authorized visual references for the runway environment distinctly visible and identifiable.


Common examples include:

  • The runway or runway markings

  • The runway threshold or threshold markings

  • The touchdown zone or touchdown zone markings

  • The approach lighting system (with extra restrictions—see below)

  • The VASI/PAPI

  • The runway lights or threshold lights

  • The REIL

  • The taxiway or runway edge lights (in certain contexts)


Two important pilot points here:


“Distinctly visible and identifiable” matters

Seeing a vague glow in the soup isn’t enough. You need a reference you can positively recognize and use to fly a safe landing.


Approach lights are special

Approach lights alone can allow you to descend below DA/MDA but only to a limit—you generally can’t descend below 100 feet above touchdown zone elevation unless you also acquire additional runway references (like the red terminating bars/side row bars, threshold, markings, etc.) Practical translation: approach lights can get you closer, but they don’t automatically authorize a landing.


Criterion #2: Flight visibility must meet the published requirement

This is where pilots get tripped up: the standard is flight visibility, meaning what you can see from the cockpit in flight—not just what the METAR said 20 minutes ago.

  • If the approach requires 1 mile, you need at least 1 mile flight visibility to continue below DA/MDA and to land.

  • If it’s an RVR-based requirement, that RVR is your planning/ATC clue, but your actual ability to continue still hinges on usable visual conditions from the cockpit.


A useful mindset:

  • If you can’t see enough to maintain alignment, judge sink rate, and land normally in the touchdown zone, you don’t really have the required visibility—regardless of what you “technically” see.


Criterion #3: You must be able to make a normal descent and landing

Even with the right lights in sight, you can’t continue below minimums unless you can do it safely. This is where “professional discipline” lives.


Ask yourself:

  • Am I stable (speed, configuration, descent rate)?

  • Am I aligned and can I stay aligned without aggressive maneuvering?

  • Can I descend on a normal glidepath (not a steep dive)?

  • Will I touch down in the touchdown zone, not halfway down the runway?

  • Is the runway condition (wet/icy/short) compatible with a “salvaged” landing?


If the answer is “no,” the correct move is simple: go missed.


The DA/MDA differences in how you apply these criteria

At DA

You reach a decision point while already descending on a glidepath.

  • If you have the required visual references and visibility, continue.

  • If not, go missed immediately. Don’t level at DA to “take a peek.”


At MDA

You treat MDA as a floor. You may continue at MDA to the MAP.

  • If you acquire the required visual references and visibility before the MAP and you can make a normal descent to land, you may descend below MDA.

  • If you reach the MAP without them, go missed.


Practical tip: Many pilots use a constant-descent technique for non precision approaches to stay stabilized, but they still respect MDA as a hard floor until the required cues are present.


A simple “below minimums” cockpit script

When training or flying single-pilot IFR, having a short verbal script helps:

At DA/MDA:

  1. “Runway environment?” (Do I have an approved visual reference?)

  2. “Visibility?” (Does this look like it meets the plate requirement in reality?)

  3. “Stable to land?” (Normal descent, aligned, configured, touchdown zone likely?)


If all three are “yes”: continue. If any one is “no”: missed approach.


Common mistakes that lead to bad outcomes

Chasing the runway below minimums

Descending “just a little” to see more is the quickest path to CFIT or a loss of control close to the ground.


Confusing “legal” with “smart”

Even if you technically have approach lights, if it’s not stable and not normal, go missed.


Fixating outside and forgetting the basics

At minimums, pilots sometimes forget power, trim, and configuration discipline. If you go missed, do it like a drill: power, pitch, positive rate, clean up, navigate, then talk.


Bottom line

To continue below DA or MDA, you need:

  • Required visual references (distinctly visible and identifiable),

  • Required flight visibility, and

  • The ability to make a normal descent and safe landing.



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