Why won’t simulator ATC recognise my ILS approach?

In a general flight simulator, ATC does not normally recognise an ILS by reading the frequency tuned in your aircraft. It assigns approaches from the simulator’s airport/navdata, runway and flight-plan state. If ATC selects the wrong runway, sees no IFR plan or loses the communication sequence, no ILS clearance appears.

Does ATC detect whether I have tuned the ILS?

No. Built-in ATC and the aircraft’s navigation receivers are usually separate systems. Programming an ILS in the FMS or tuning its frequency does not tell ATC which approach you want.

ATC can clear you for an ILS before you tune it, and your aircraft can receive an ILS without an ATC clearance. Some simulators monitor your position to decide when you are established, but that is not the same as reading the NAV receiver.

How do I fix an ILS approach ATC will not recognise?

1. Confirm that the selected runway has the expected ILS. One runway end may have an ILS while the opposite end has only RNAV, localiser or visual procedures. Check the exact runway suffix as well: 27L, 27C and 27R are different runways. Use the simulator’s data or chart source to check the runway, frequency, front course and published procedure.
2. Compare runway designations across the simulator, scenery and avionics. A real runway may have been renumbered because of magnetic variation while older scenery, built-in ATC or an aircraft database still uses the former number. If ATC offers the old runway but the cockpit lists the new one, update the conflicting data where supported or temporarily test without the add-on scenery.
3. Give ATC its own IFR flight plan. A route entered only in an aircraft’s MCDU, FMS or EFB may not populate the simulator’s separate ATC plan. Load or send an IFR plan through the simulator’s flight-planning system where required, with the correct destination and approach. A STAR is an arrival route, not an ILS approach.
4. Check the active runway before requesting the approach. Wind, airport configuration and simplified runway-selection logic can make ATC choose another runway. Listen to the airport information and request the ILS if the simulator provides that option. Retuning the radio cannot change ATC’s runway choice.
5. Complete every ATC hand-off and acknowledgement. Scripted ATC can stall if an instruction remains unanswered, the wrong controller is selected or a frequency change is skipped. If you received the approach but not the expected descent or landing instruction, use our checklist for an ATC sequence that will not issue descent or landing clearance.
6. Reset a stuck ATC state. Request another approach or vectors if those options remain available. Otherwise, cancel and refile IFR or reload the flight. When a replacement ATC add-on is installed, test it separately from built-in ATC rather than allowing both systems to control the same flight.

Why does ATC offer RNAV or a visual approach instead?

ATC offers another approach when its selected runway or navigation database does not make the ILS the preferred available procedure. This is an ATC decision, not evidence that the ILS receiver has failed.

• The wind favours a runway without an ILS.
• The airport database lacks the procedure or uses another runway number.
• The flight was filed VFR rather than IFR.
• The intended approach exists only in the aircraft’s flight plan.
• The listed procedure is RNAV, RNP or localiser-only rather than a full ILS.
• The simulator uses simplified approach-selection logic.

Do not accept an RNAV clearance and then assume it includes permission to fly an ILS. The lateral and vertical guidance, minimums and required avionics are not interchangeable.

There is no ATC at all—what should I check?

If no ATC menu, text, voice or controller response is available, troubleshoot communications before the ILS. An approach database mismatch cannot silence every ATC facility.

• Make sure the aircraft has electrical power and its COM radios are operating.
• Put the required frequency in the active window, not standby.
• Select the correct transmit and receive channel on the audio panel and check its volume.
• Confirm that you are contacting the correct facility and are within plausible radio range.
• Check whether text responses appear without speech; that points to an audio or voice setting rather than an ILS problem.
• Do not assume multiplayer traffic includes human ATC. Multiplayer, built-in ATC and third-party controller services are separate features.
• Test the same airport in a default aircraft. Failure in both aircraft suggests a simulator or ATC configuration problem; failure only in the add-on points to its radio state or integration.

Does dbyjaathc identify an ATC or ILS fault?

By itself, dbyjaathc does not identify a standard ILS mode or a useful ATC error. It may be a callsign, username, truncated log entry or mistyped search term. Record where it appeared and the complete surrounding message; do not treat it as an ILS frequency, procedure identifier or autopilot mode.

Why is iniBuilds A350 ATC not working?

With the iniBuilds A350 in Microsoft Flight Simulator, first establish whether built-in ATC is missing or the aircraft is simply failing to capture the ILS. These faults have different causes.

• No IFR clearance or approach is offered: a route loaded into the A350’s avionics or EFB may remain separate from the simulator’s ATC flight plan. Ensure the simulator itself holds an IFR plan.
• The cockpit ATC page does nothing: an aircraft’s ATC or datalink page is not automatically the same service as the simulator’s built-in voice or menu-driven ATC. Use the system intended for the ATC service you have selected.
• ATC text appears but there is no sound: inspect simulator voice settings, COM volume and audio-panel receive selection.
• You cannot transmit: verify the controller frequency is active and the correct VHF radio is selected for transmission.
• ATC says cleared ILS but no guidance appears: ATC is working. Check the A350’s approach selection, tuned ILS, displayed identifier where modelled, approach mode and flight-mode indications.

A useful isolation test is to load a default aircraft at the same airport. If ATC fails there as well, changing A350 autopilot modes will not fix it. If ATC works in the default aircraft but not the A350, inspect the add-on’s power, radio and audio state before reinstalling anything.

ATC cleared the ILS, but it doesn’t work—what failed?

Once ATC has issued an ILS clearance, it has recognised the approach; missing localiser or glideslope guidance is now an aircraft setup, signal or intercept problem. ILS flight forum discussions often blur these three separate stages: clearance, radio reception and autopilot capture.

• Verify the procedure again. Make sure the frequency belongs to the assigned runway and the approach is not localiser-only.
• Check the active receiver. The correct frequency must be active rather than in standby, and the intended NAV receiver must drive the flight instruments.
• Use the correct navigation source. Aircraft with a GPS/FMS versus NAV/VLOC selector must use the radio-navigation source for ILS capture. Our explanation of how GPS/FMS and NAV/VLOC source selection affects ILS capture covers the common cockpit arrangements.
• Arm approach mode and read the FMA. An illuminated button shows that a mode was requested; the flight-mode annunciator shows whether LOC and glideslope are actually armed or captured.
• Use sensible intercept geometry. Join the localiser at a moderate angle and intercept the glideslope from below. Arriving above the glideslope commonly prevents vertical capture.
• Consider a database or scenery conflict. If the displayed frequency and runway are correct but no signal appears in any aircraft, the airport facility may be missing, displaced or inconsistent with the installed scenery.

Why does the Fenix A320 show NO NAV INTERCEPT or fail to capture the ILS?

In the Fenix A320, NO NAV INTERCEPT is normally an FMGS route-geometry message, not an ATC rejection. Airbus NAV mode follows the managed FMS route; the ILS localiser is captured through LOC or APPR logic rather than NAV mode alone.

If the message appears after a direct-to or intercept entry, the selected course may not cross a valid active leg ahead of the aircraft. Choose a sensible waypoint ahead, remove or resolve any route discontinuity, or use selected heading to establish an intercept. Once a capturable managed leg exists, push the heading selector to re-arm NAV.

For the ILS, select the correct approach, display the LS scales, use heading mode to create a reasonable localiser intercept and arm APPR. On the FMA, LOC and G/S should first show as armed and then change to captured; the APPR button light alone is not proof of capture. Our full A320 ILS mode-and-capture sequence explains the Airbus procedure without confusing managed NAV with localiser guidance.

Can I fly the ILS if simulator ATC does not recognise it?

Yes. During an offline practice flight, you can cancel or disregard built-in ATC and fly a valid ILS using the correct runway, frequency, course and intercept. ATC recognition is not required for the aircraft to receive the localiser and glideslope.

Do not self-clear an approach during a session with live human controllers. Request the ILS and wait for the appropriate clearance. If human or built-in ATC has already cleared the approach but the aircraft will not capture it, return to the navigation source, receiver, approach mode and intercept geometry rather than refiling the flight plan.