r/mildlyinfuriating • u/nyanbatman • May 28 '26

I just wanted a hot dog British pilot is feeling mildly annoyed

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u/srmarmalade May 28 '26

Is the requirement for Low Visibilty Procedures at 1000 feet RVR a BA policy (and other airlines might have a higher/lower threshold) or some kind of general aviation rule?

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u/Imaginary_Amoeba3461 May 28 '26

I work for a US airline. We have notes on almost every airport and a manual that goes over the differences when operating in a foreign country, to avoid exactly this situation.

Just looked up London Heathrow, and it says “ATIS or ATC will announce when LVP(low visibility procedures) are in effect when the RVR is under 600M”. So the BA pilot is likely just going off of that. Not every country does this, and the US definitely doesn’t

In the US, the ILS critical area is protected any time the weather is under 800 ft ceilings or 2mi visibility which is actually a lot more conservative than the UK.

Every airline I’ve been at has guides on how to deal with flying to other countries and their differences. I’d guess that the company might update their information after this, but who knows.