Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

minimum descent altitude

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.59 in modern English

Syllables: min-i-mum de-s-cen-t alti-tude
IPA

32

Scrabble Score

22

Letters

7

Syllables

11

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The lowest altitude at which an aircraft is permitted to fly during a non-precision approach without the runway being in clear sight.

Example Sentences

"The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the descent below Minimum Descent Altitude during a nonprecision approach under adverse operating conditions, without visual contact with the runway environment. The Board has been unable to determine the reason for this descent, although the two most likely explanations are (a) improper use of cockpit instrumentation data, or (b) an altimetry system error."

Inflected Forms

minimum descent altitudes (plural) MDA (abbreviation)

Frequently Paired Words

decision height

Questions

What does minimum descent altitude mean?: The lowest altitude at which an aircraft is permitted to fly during a non-precision approach without the runway being in clear sight.

How to pronounce minimum descent altitude

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