Definition
On an instrument approach chart, the plan view is the top-down depiction of the approach procedure as seen from directly above. It shows the routing from the initial approach fix to the missed approach point, including navaids, fixes, courses, distances, holding patterns, minimum safe altitudes, terrain, obstacles, and airspace boundaries relevant to the procedure.
Plain English
It is the bird's-eye-view portion of an approach chart — the part that shows the layout of the approach as if you were looking down at it from above.
Context Anchor
Seen in FAA handbook diagrams, instrument explanations, airport layouts, and route illustrations where the picture is shown from above.
Derivation
Plan comes from the Latin planus, meaning flat or level. In drafting and architecture, a plan view has long meant a drawing of something as seen looking straight down — a flat overhead layout. The aviation chart uses the term in exactly that traditional sense.
Why Pilots Care
It gives pilots the horizontal layout of the entire approach so they can visualize fixes, courses, and terrain clearance before flying the procedure.
Analogy
A plan view is like looking straight down at a table from above. You can see where everything sits left, right, forward, and back, but you are not seeing much height.
Intuition Check
Do not read plan view as a view of a plan or schedule. In aviation diagrams, it means the view from directly above.
Example Sentence 1
During the briefing, she traced the route on the plan view from the initial approach fix to the runway.
Example Sentence 2
After studying the plan view, the pilot cross-checked the profile view for descent altitudes.