Learn how to brief an ILS approach: verify the chart, tune the localiser, cover intercept altitude, minima, missed approach, setup and threats.
To brief an ILS approach, state the runway and procedure, confirm chart validity, localiser frequency and identifier, inbound course, glideslope intercept altitude, decision altitude or height, required visibility, missed-approach instructions, aircraft configuration and key threats. Then confirm navigation setup, automation plan, conditions for continuing below minima and who will call deviations.
For our Aviation & Real-World Flying readers, the same core order works in a simulator and in procedural training, but real crews must use their operator’s approved SOP and checklist. A briefing never replaces a current chart, NOTAMs, weather information or ATC clearance.
What should an ILS approach briefing include?
A complete ILS briefing should let the pilot fly the approach, recognise an unsafe deviation and execute the missed approach without searching the chart during a high-workload phase.
- Approach identity and validity. Confirm the airport, full procedure name and runway, including designators such as ILS Y or ILS Z. Check the chart’s effective or amendment status, relevant NOTAMs, ATIS, expected runway and whether the localiser or glideslope has any restrictions.
- Arrival and intercept. State the transition, initial approach fix or expected radar vectors, altitude restrictions and how the aircraft will join final. Brief the published glideslope intercept altitude and plan to intercept from below; a depicted altitude is not, by itself, permission to descend.
- Radio and navigation setup. Confirm the ILS frequency, identifier, inbound course, required DME source and the navigation display or receiver being used. Where the aircraft auto-tunes, verify the displayed or aural identifier as the equipment and SOP require rather than trusting the flight-management entry alone.
- Vertical profile. Cover the glideslope crossing or check altitude, any fixes before final, terrain or temperature notes and expected descent profile. Include the annunciations that should confirm localiser and glideslope capture.
- Minima and visual requirement. Select the correct minima line for the aircraft category, equipment and intended operation. Brief the exact DA(H), the cockpit setting to be used, required visibility or RVR, expected approach lights and the visual references required to continue.
- Missed approach. State the initial climb, heading or track, altitude, navigation facility and holding instructions. Emphasise the order of any climb-before-turn restriction and note any alternative missed-approach instructions issued by ATC.
- Landing plan. Cover runway length, touchdown-zone elevation, wind, surface condition, braking action and lighting where relevant. State landing flap, target speed, autobrake, spoilers, automation use and the planned autopilot or autothrottle disconnect point.
- Threats and calls. Identify crosswind, tailwind, low cloud, terrain, parallel-runway confusion, an offset localiser, false-glideslope risk or expected late configuration. Agree who monitors the flight-mode annunciator, calls deviations and orders a go-around if stabilisation criteria are not met.
If the plate layout is unfamiliar, our guide to finding frequencies, courses, altitude constraints and minima on an approach chart explains where each briefing item appears.
What does a concise ILS briefing sound like?
A useful briefing is short but specific. It should use values from the actual chart rather than relying on memory.
Example format: “ILS [designator] runway [runway], chart checked. Expect [transition or vectors], localiser course [course], frequency [frequency], identifier [identifier]. Intercept from below at [altitude]; check [fix and altitude]. DA [value], visibility [value]. If the required references are not available, climb [initial instruction], then [track, altitude and hold]. Landing [configuration and speed]; main threats are [threats].”
That format is a memory aid, not a universal script. Some operators require additional items or divide the briefing between arrival, approach and landing sections.
What ILS briefing mistakes cause problems?
The error we see most often is treating “the approach is loaded” as proof that the aircraft is correctly prepared. Loading a procedure does not confirm the radio signal, identifier, minima, missed approach or automation state.
| Mistake | Why it matters | Correction |
|---|---|---|
| Using the wrong ILS variant or runway | ILS Y and Z procedures can have different routing, minima or missed approaches. | Read the complete procedure title and airport before briefing anything else. |
| Briefing the frequency but not the identifier | The receiver may be tuned to the wrong or unserviceable signal. | Tune, identify and display the correct navigation source. |
| Selecting the lowest minima on the chart | Those minima may require equipment, lighting, authorisation or aircraft capability that is unavailable. | Choose the minima applicable to the aircraft, crew, airport and operation. |
| Intercepting the glideslope from above | Capture may fail or produce an unstable attempt to regain the path. | Meet the published or assigned intercept altitude and establish on the localiser first. |
| Saying only “standard missed approach” | The first turn or altitude restriction is easily forgotten under pressure. | Brief the initial missed-approach actions explicitly. |
| Updating the runway but not the setup | The old frequency, course, minima or missed approach may remain selected. | Recheck every changed item and both pilots’ displays where applicable. |
When should you brief the ILS approach?
Complete the briefing before the workload rises, with enough time to programme, verify and correct the aircraft setup. The exact point depends on the operation, but it should be finished before intercept vectors or the initial approach segment make prolonged heads-down work unsafe.
Weather, fuel, alternate planning and broader arrival threats belong in the wider pre-flight and approach briefing process. Once the ILS brief is complete, update only the changed items unless the change affects the procedure identity, minima or missed approach.
What should you do if ATC changes the runway or approach?
A late approach change requires a deliberate setup check and rebrief, not a hurried edit to the runway field.
- Confirm the clearance. Read back the new approach, runway and any assigned altitude or heading.
- Select the correct procedure. Check that changing it has not removed or duplicated arrival waypoints.
- Retune and identify. Verify the new frequency, course, navigation source and identifier.
- Reset minima and landing data. Recalculate configuration, speed and braking choices as required.
- Rebrief critical differences. Cover intercept altitude, minima, missed approach and new threats. If there is insufficient time, request delay vectors, a hold or another approach rather than accepting an unstable setup.
What changes for CAT II, CAT III or autoland?
A low-visibility or autoland briefing must cover operational capability and failure responses as well as lower minima. Confirm aircraft, crew, airport and ILS eligibility; required autopilot or flight-director channels; radio-altimeter use; RVR limits; alert height or DH where applicable; expected landing and rollout annunciations; and the conditions requiring an immediate go-around.
Seeing an autoland indication in a simulator does not establish real-world approval or qualification. For the flying phase after the brief, use our step-by-step ILS sequence covering localiser intercept, glideslope capture, minima and go-around actions.