Definition
The lowest altitude, expressed in feet above mean sea level, at which an air traffic controller (ATC) may issue radar vectors to an aircraft within a specified airspace sector. The MVA provides at least 1,000 feet of obstacle clearance (2,000 feet in designated mountainous areas) and accounts for radar coverage, communications, and adjacent airspace.
Plain English
The lowest altitude a controller is allowed to send you down to when steering you with radar in a particular area. It is set so you stay safely above terrain and obstacles.
Context Anchor
You will encounter MVA in instrument flying, especially when ATC is giving radar vectors during arrivals, approaches, departures, or missed approaches.
Derivation
‘Vectoring’ comes from the Latin vector, meaning ‘carrier’ or ‘one who conveys,’ and in aviation refers to ATC giving heading instructions to guide an aircraft along a path. ‘Minimum’ here means the floor — the lowest the controller may legally assign while vectoring.
Why Pilots Care
It guarantees safe clearance from terrain when following ATC vectors instead of a published route.
Intuition Check
Do not read “minimum” as “the lowest altitude I can safely fly anywhere nearby.” MVA is a controller’s radar-vectoring limit for a defined area, not a general pilot-selected safe altitude.
Example Sentence 1
Approach vectored us at 3,000 feet, which was the minimum vectoring altitude for that sector north of the airport.
Example Sentence 2
The MVA in that sector is 2,800 feet because of a ridge line to the east of the airport.