Definition
Instrument approach procedures that provide both lateral (side-to-side) and vertical (descent path) guidance to the runway, but do not meet the strict signal-integrity and accuracy standards required to be officially classified as precision approaches under ICAO. The most common example is an RNAV (GPS) approach flown to LPV minimums, which gives the pilot a glidepath similar to an ILS but is formally categorized as an approach with vertical guidance (APV) rather than a true precision approach.
Plain English
Approaches that feel and fly like a precision approach -- you get steering toward the runway and a glidepath down -- but technically they are not classified as precision approaches.
Context Anchor
Seen in discussions of satellite-based instrument procedures and NextGen improvements that give pilots more runway approaches with vertical guidance.
Derivation
Precision comes from a Latin word meaning “cut off exactly” or “make exact.” Like means “similar to.” Together, precision-like means “similar to a precision approach,” not exactly the same as one.
Why Pilots Care
They expand access to lower landing minima at airports without full ILS infrastructure, improving safety and operational flexibility.
Intuition Check
Do not read “precision-like” as “the same as precision.” It means the approach gives similar guidance to the pilot, but its official classification and operating limits may be different.
Example Sentence 1
The RNAV approach to Runway 27 was flown to LPV minimums, a precision-like approach that gave us vertical guidance all the way to the runway.
Example Sentence 2
Many regional airports now publish precision-like approaches that allow lower ceilings than basic GPS procedures.