Definition
A standard arrival maneuver, used primarily by military aircraft, in which the aircraft approaches the runway at pattern altitude on the upwind heading, makes a 180-degree turn to downwind followed by a descending 180-degree turn to final, completing a full 360-degree change in direction relative to the runway centerline before landing.
Plain English
A type of landing approach where the pilot flies down the runway, then makes a tight circling turn that ends up lined up with the runway again, ready to land. The aircraft turns a full circle's worth of heading during the maneuver.
Context Anchor
Used in airport traffic pattern and tower communications, especially when a pilot requests or is cleared for an overhead-style visual landing maneuver.
Derivation
Called '360 Overhead' because the aircraft makes a total of 360 degrees of turn (two 180-degree turns) and the maneuver is flown overhead the runway rather than from a distant traffic pattern entry.
Why Pilots Care
It provides a safe way to join the traffic pattern when approaching from the upwind side, helping avoid conflicts with other aircraft.
Intuition Check
“Overhead” does not mean simply circling anywhere above the airport. Here it means a specific visual landing maneuver that uses one complete turn to set up for the runway.
Example Sentence 1
The F-16 flight requested a 360 overhead for runway 27 and broke into the downwind turn directly above the numbers.
Example Sentence 2
Instead of a straight-in approach, we flew a 360 overhead to properly sequence with the existing traffic flow.