Page 13 - Feb24T

by setting 2000 feet, hand flying, or just not paying detailed attention to the quick level-off required for this departure.
The SQUAT FIVE RNAV Departure at Rifle Garfield Airport in Rifle, CO (KRIL) for Runway 26 directs you to fly 26 NM down the valley toward the Southwest to SQUAT Intersection. This SID is also listed as an ODP. The ODP for Runway 26 states to “use SQUAT DEPARTURE.” I had two clients/jet student pilots who received an FAA violation for departing from their planned flight. There is not a control tower at KRIL, so the pilots took off with a clearance void time. They advised Denver Center that they were flying the SQUAT FIVE Departure. ATC said “OK”, so this departure procedure became part of the crew’s most recent clearance. (There were likely more words, but I do not have the tapes). When the crew was at a safe altitude, but not to SQUAT Intersection, they made a turn to the East (Red Table/ DBL VOR) as that was the direction of their destination. Remember to let ATC know before deviating from a flight plan, even if it was not your originally filed flight plan.
In our third example, a crew was flying out of Denver, CO (KDEN) and cleared from Runway 16R with a “Climb Via” the EEONS EIGHT RNAV Departure. The top altitude is listed as FL230, so the pilots set this number into the airplane’s altitude selector for the autopilot. The departure has you cross GISTT Intersection at or above 7000 feet, but it next states to cross KIDNG Intersection at or below 10000 feet. My clients were new to the jet and not comfortable with the use of the “new to them” VNAV button on the auto- pilot’s flight control panel. So, they used the Vertical Speed (VS) button to climb and busted the altitude restriction of 10000 feet at KIDNG Intersection by several thousand feet. They could have set 10000 feet in the altitude selector until passing KIDNG Intersection.
I will end this article by quoting a paragraph from the FAA’s Instrument Procedures Handbook pg. 1-43 that ends with a strong statement:
When planning for a departure, pilots should:
• Consider the types of terrain and other obstructions in the vicinity of the airport.
• Determine if obstacle clearance can be maintained visually or if you need to make use of a DP.
• Determine if an ODP or SID is available for the depar- ture airport.
• Determine what actions allow for a safe departure out of an airport that does not have any type of DPs.
• By simply complying with DPs in their entirety as published, obstacle clearance is guaranteed!
Ed Verville is an experienced FAA instructor and examiner for business jet pilots and aircrew programs. He has 15,000 flight hours in more than 100 different makes and models and holds type ratings in the Bombardier CL-65, CL-30, CL-604, and Boeing 747. Ed has been instructing RNP-AR Approaches for the past three years.
February 2024 / TWIN & TURBINE • 11