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minimum descent altitudes

minimum descent altitudes is the plural of minimum descent altitude.

Meaning of minimum descent altitude

Noun

minimum descent altitude (plural minimum descent altitudes, abbreviation MDA)

  1. The lowest altitude at which an aircraft is permitted to fly during a non-precision approach without the runway being in clear sight.
    • The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the descent below Minimum Descent Altitude during a nonprecision approach under adverse operating conditions, without visual contact with the runway environment. The Board has been unable to determine...1972 April 14, National Transportation Safety Board, “2.2b Probable Cause”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Southern Airways, Inc. DC-9, N97S, Tri-State Airport, Huntington, West Virginia, November 14...

Questions about minimum descent altitudes

What is minimum descent altitudes the plural of?
Minimum descent altitudes is the plural of minimum descent altitude.

Words near minimum descent altitudes in the dictionary

  1. minimum connecting times
  2. minimum contacts
  3. minimum cut
  4. minimum cuts
  5. minimum descent altitude
  6. minimum descent altitudes
  7. minimum inhibitory concentration
  8. minimum minimorum
  9. minimum naturale
  10. minimum sector altitude
  11. minimum sector altitudes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: minimum descent altitudes (page history and authors); minimum descent altitude (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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