Definition
Headings assigned by ATC, or chosen by the pilot, that allow an aircraft to converge with and join a specific course, airway, route, or final approach course at a controlled angle rather than flying parallel to it or overshooting it.
Plain English
A heading you fly to cut across and join the line you are supposed to be on. Instead of flying toward the line head-on or alongside it, you fly at an angle so you smoothly arrive on the route you need.
Context Anchor
Heard from approach, departure, or center controllers during instrument departures, arrivals, and guidance to an approach path or published route.
Derivation
From the Latin 'intercipere,' meaning 'to seize between' or 'catch on the way.' In flying, the aircraft is catching the course between its current position and where the course continues — joining it on the move.
Why Pilots Care
Proper intercept headings prevent overshoots or steep turns onto final, maintaining a stable approach.
Intuition Check
Do not read “intercept” as stopping or blocking something. In this use, it means meeting a flight path at an angle and joining it.
Example Sentence 1
Approach control assigned an intercept heading of 040 to join the final approach course inbound to the runway.
Example Sentence 2
Departure gave us intercept headings to join the airway after takeoff.