Chart | Jeppesen

Most pilots review a Jeppesen approach chart using a "top-down" flow. This ensures no critical information is missed.

Even experts make mistakes. Here are the top three "traps" on a Jeppesen chart:

The Jeppesen chart is more than a piece of paper or a PDF file. It is a distillation of hundreds of man-hours of flight checking, obstacle surveying, and legal certification. Elrey Jeppesen once said, "The only thing we have to sell is the pilot’s confidence."

For the instrument-rated pilot, confidence comes from standardization. Whether you are dodging thunderstorms over the Andes or shooting an approach into a foggy San Francisco, the Jeppesen chart is your certainty in an uncertain environment. jeppesen chart

If you are a student pilot, buy a set of Jeppesen approach plates. Learn to fold them. Learn to brief them. When you are shooting a real ILS to 200 feet and the rain is pounding the windscreen, and you glance down at that familiar colored box to confirm your Decision Altitude, you will realize:

That chart just saved your life.

Note: Aviation data changes constantly. Always verify Jeppesen charts against current NOTAMs (Notices to Airmen) before flight. The paper you hold is only valid if it has been updated in the last 28 days. Most pilots review a Jeppesen approach chart using

Here’s a draft piece on Jeppesen charts, written in an informative, professional style suitable for a flight training manual, aviation blog, or operations bulletin.

To read a Jeppesen chart is to decode a visual language. Here are three critical symbols every pilot misinterprets at least once:

This shows the route from the enroute structure to the initial approach fix (IAF). The Jeppesen chart is more than a piece

This depicts the vertical path of the approach.

This is arguably the most genius part of the Jeppesen chart. It is a 2D slice of the sky showing altitude versus distance to the runway. It answers: "How low can I go before I see the runway?"

The instructions for what to do if you cannot land are usually found in three places: