Definition
A standardized digital format used to describe instrument flight procedures — such as departures, arrivals, and approaches — so they can be loaded into avionics databases and flown automatically by flight management systems and GPS navigators.
Plain English
A way of writing instrument procedures in a computer-readable code so that the airplane's navigation system can store them and fly them step by step.
Context Anchor
Seen when selecting an instrument approach, arrival, or departure from an aircraft GPS or navigation database.
Derivation
‘Coded’ here means converted into a structured data format that a computer can read — not encrypted or secret. The procedures themselves are the same instrument approaches, departures, and arrivals you see on charts; ‘coded’ just means they’ve been translated into machine-readable form.
Why Pilots Care
Enables accurate, repeatable guidance using onboard sensors instead of depending only on ground radio aids.
Intuition Check
Coded does not mean secret or encrypted here. It means converted into standardized digital instructions for aircraft navigation equipment.
Example Sentence 1
The approach loaded cleanly into the FMS because it was stored as a coded instrument flight procedure in the current database.
Example Sentence 2
Coded instrument flight procedures let the aircraft follow exact routes without the pilot manually tuning each navigation aid.