Definition
On a precision instrument approach, the specified height above the runway touchdown zone at which the pilot must decide whether to continue the approach to landing or execute a missed approach. At Decision Height, the required visual references for the runway must be in sight; if they are not, the pilot must go around. Decision Height is referenced to the height above touchdown (HAT) and is published on the approach chart for procedures such as ILS approaches.
Plain English
The point during a precision approach where you must decide: if you can see the runway, you keep going and land; if you can't, you go around. It's a height above the runway, not above sea level.
Context Anchor
Seen on instrument approach procedures that guide an aircraft down toward a runway when the pilot may not see the runway until near the end of the approach.
Derivation
From 'decision' (the choice to continue or abandon the approach) and 'height' (a measured vertical distance above a reference). The reference here is the runway touchdown zone, not sea level — which is why it's called a height rather than an altitude.
Why Pilots Care
It marks the final committed decision point for landing or going around in low visibility, directly tied to safety and regulatory minimums.
Grounding Statement
At decision height, the pilot is low enough that the next action must be definite: land only with the required view, or climb away.
Intuition Check
Decision height is not a place to pause and think for a while. It is a fixed height where the pilot must already be ready to continue visually or start climbing away.
Example Sentence 1
Approaching Decision Height on the ILS, the captain called the runway in sight and continued to land.
Example Sentence 2
When the runway environment was not visible at DH the crew executed the missed approach procedure.