Definition
Extra protected airspace built into instrument procedures on either side of (lateral) or above (vertical) the intended flight path, used to ensure obstacle clearance accounting for navigation tolerances, pilot technique, and aircraft performance. On an Emergency Obstruction Video Map (EOVM), these buffers may be reduced or absent, so depicted altitudes and routes carry less margin than standard published procedures.
Plain English
Built-in safety margins to the side of and above your flight path that keep you a safe distance from obstacles. Lateral means side-to-side spacing; vertical means how much altitude cushion sits between you and the highest obstacle below.
Context Anchor
Seen in Emergency Obstruction Video Map discussions when explaining how obstacles are treated on a display or map during an emergency situation.
Derivation
‘Lateral’ comes from Latin lateralis, meaning ‘of the side.’ ‘Vertical’ comes from Latin verticalis, meaning ‘overhead’ or ‘at the top.’ ‘Buffer’ originally meant something that absorbs a shock. Together: side margins and altitude margins that absorb the small errors and drift that occur in real flying.
Why Pilots Care
These buffers maintain a reliable safety cushion so that terrain or obstacle contact remains unlikely even under real-world navigation inaccuracies.
Intuition Check
Do not read “buffer” as empty decoration on the map. Here it means protected extra space. Do not read “lateral” and “vertical” as general directions only. Here they describe specific sideways and height margins used for obstacle clearance.
Example Sentence 1
Standard instrument approach procedures include lateral and vertical buffers to protect against navigation errors and minor altitude deviations.
Example Sentence 2
Vertical buffers are added to obstacle heights to ensure the charted minimum vectoring altitude still provides safe clearance with altimeter error.