Definition
Airports identified by the FAA as requiring a cold temperature altitude correction on one or more instrument approach segments when the reported airport temperature is at or below a published threshold. These airports, along with the affected segments and temperature thresholds, are listed in the FAA Cold Temperature Restricted Airports list. When the temperature is at or below the listed value, pilots must apply a calculated altitude correction to the affected segment(s) and, when required, advise ATC of the correction.
Plain English
These are specific airports where, when it gets cold enough, your altimeter readings on the approach can be misleading enough to matter. The FAA has flagged them and tells you exactly which part of the approach to correct and at what temperature you have to start doing it.
Context Anchor
Seen in instrument procedure planning, approach chart notes, and FAA cold-temperature airport information before flying an instrument approach in cold weather.
Why Pilots Care
Without the required altitude corrections, the aircraft may descend below published minimums and collide with terrain.
Grounding Statement
On a very cold day, the altimeter can make the airplane appear higher than it really is, so the pilot may need to fly a corrected, higher indicated altitude.
Intuition Check
“Restricted” does not mean the airport is closed or that only certain pilots may use it. Here it means the airport has a cold-temperature limitation that requires special altitude correction when conditions are cold enough.
Example Sentence 1
Before flying the approach into a cold temperature restricted airport, the pilot checked the published threshold and calculated the altitude correction for the intermediate segment.
Example Sentence 2
At a Cold Temperature Restricted Airport the crew added 400 feet to all published altitudes when the temperature was 20 degrees below the charted limit.