Airline or large or turbojet aircraft that are required to
fly at an altitude that is 1500 feet above the runway,
unless a lower altitude is required. Furthermore, if the
runway has an ILS or VASI system, the pilot is required to
use the glide slope.

If you were in a general aviation, non-turbojet aircraft
smaller than 12,500 pounds, the pilot is required only to
fly at a safe altitude. Over water obstacle clearance is
not a big problem and simply avoiding boats by 500 feet is
all that is required.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

"Tim923" wrote in message
...
|I don't have an aviation background but was just curious.
It seemed
| that during the approach into Melbourne, FL we were
relatively quite
| low to the ground/water (as compared to other airports).
Do planes
| fly low into Melbourne?