Definition
The lowest altitude at which an aircraft can reliably receive the navigation signals needed to identify a specific fix on an airway or route — typically a fix defined by the intersection of two VOR radials or similar navaid signals.
Plain English
The lowest altitude where you can pick up a clean enough signal from the ground-based navigation aids to actually identify a particular point on your route. Below this altitude, the signals get unreliable and you can't trust the fix.
Context Anchor
Seen on instrument flight route charts when a fix or intersection cannot be reliably identified below a stated altitude.
Derivation
‘Reception’ comes from the Latin recipere, ‘to receive.’ Here it refers specifically to receiving navigation signals — not radio voice communication. The altitude is the minimum at which those signals can be received reliably enough to use the fix.
Why Pilots Care
Flying below the MRA risks losing navigation signals, which can cause loss of situational awareness and make it impossible to identify required fixes.
Intuition Check
“Reception” here does not mean hearing a voice radio call. It means receiving navigation signals well enough to identify the route point.
Example Sentence 1
The chart showed an MRA of 8,000 feet at the intersection, so we requested a climb before reporting the fix.
Example Sentence 2
If we descend below the published MRA before the fix, we may lose the crossing radial and be unable to confirm our position.