Definition
The procedure of confirming an aircraft's position over a published intersection — a fix defined by the crossing of two or more navigation courses, such as VOR radials, bearings, or airway centerlines — by tuning, identifying, and centering the appropriate navigation signals so that each course indicator confirms the aircraft is on the defining radials or bearings simultaneously.
Plain English
Working out when you are exactly over an intersection on a chart by checking that two navigation signals line up at the same moment, showing you are sitting on the spot where they cross.
Context Anchor
Seen in instrument navigation, approach procedures, en route charts, and position checks when a pilot must know exactly where the aircraft is along a route.
Derivation
An intersection, from Latin intersecare meaning 'to cut between,' is the point where two lines cross. In aviation navigation, the 'lines' are radials or bearings from ground stations, and the 'crossing' is the fix the pilot is trying to identify.
Why Pilots Care
Correct identification keeps the aircraft on the cleared route, maintains separation from obstacles, and satisfies ATC requirements.
Grounding Statement
You have identified an intersection when the navigation indications agree that the aircraft is at the charted point.
Intuition Check
Do not think of an intersection as a road crossing you can look down and see. In instrument flying, an intersection is a charted point confirmed by instruments, not by outside visual clues.
Example Sentence 1
After tracking the airway outbound from the VOR, the pilot began identifying the intersection by tuning the second VOR and watching for the crossing radial to center.
Example Sentence 2
By identifying intersections along the route the crew verified their position before continuing to the next waypoint.