Cleared for the visual approach: Human factor problems in air carrier operations

The study described herein, a set of 353 ASRS reports of unique aviation occurrences significantly involving visual approaches was examined to identify hazards and pitfalls embedded in the visual approach procedure and to consider operational practices that might help avoid future mishaps. Analysis of the report set identified nine aspects of the visual approach procedure that appeared to be predisposing conditions for inducing or exacerbating the effects of operational errors by flight crew members or controllers. Predisposing conditions, errors, and operational consequences of the errors are discussed. In a summary, operational policies that might mitigate the problems are examined.