Can you tell a Minimum Descent Altitude (MDA) from a Decision Altitude (DA)? Your IFR checkride may depend on it! I've seen more than a few failures come when the minimums, and how they are to be treated, are not properly briefed on an approach. Don't bust minimums on your checkride!

An MDA is the lowest point you can descend to on a non precision approach until you have the needed visual cues to descend further toward the runway to land. On a GPS approach, you'd find the MDA minimum next to "LNAV" on the approach plate. As the name suggests, you can't go below it, even by a small amount, or you've busted altitude.

A DA is the point on a precision approach where you decide to continue to land or execute a missed approach. Because it's the point you decide at, you actually can go a bit below this altitude as you go through the process of executing the missed. Just don't milk it and delay going missed so you can hunt for the runway some more!

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