Definition
A defined sequence of flight maneuvers, paths, and altitudes that pilots follow to accomplish a specific phase of flight, such as departure, en route navigation, arrival, or approach. In the ARINC 424 navigation database context, a flight procedure is encoded as a structured set of legs, waypoints, altitudes, and speed constraints that an FMS or GPS can read and fly.
Plain English
A pre-designed set of steps a pilot or flight computer follows to fly a particular part of the flight safely and predictably.
Context Anchor
Seen when discussing how published instrument procedures are converted into navigation-database coding for GPS and other cockpit navigation systems.
Derivation
From Latin procedere, 'to go forward.' A procedure is literally a way of going forward step by step. In aviation, a flight procedure is the step-by-step way of going forward through the air for a given task.
Why Pilots Care
Using the correct published flight procedure keeps the aircraft clear of terrain, maintains separation from traffic, and satisfies regulatory and ATC requirements.
Intuition Check
Do not read “flight procedure” as any habit or technique used during flight. In this context, it means an official published path and set of navigation instructions for a specific operation.
Example Sentence 1
Before departure, the crew loaded the published flight procedure for the RNAV approach into the FMS.
Example Sentence 2
ATC cleared the aircraft to fly the published flight procedure for the ILS approach.