Circling approach is described as which?

• A. A maneuver initiated by the pilot to align the aircraft with a runway for landing when a straight-in landing from an instrument approach is not possible or desirable.
• B. A method to circle the aircraft around obstacles during approach.
• C. A high-speed descent directly to the runway.
• D. A procedure to circle to stay within the traffic pattern.

Answer: (A)

Circling to land is the maneuver you use after an instrument approach when you can’t or shouldn’t land straight ahead on the runway. After you have the airport environment in sight, you maneuver the airplane in a controlled circular path to align with the chosen landing runway, then descend for a final approach on that runway. This describes exactly the situation described: you’re landing on a runway different from the one aligned with the instrument approach, and you’re guiding the aircraft to that runway rather than continuing a straight-in.

The other ideas don’t fit this purpose. Circling to avoid obstacles isn’t about the landing method after an instrument approach, a high-speed descent directly to the runway isn’t how circling is executed and would be unsafe, and staying in the traffic pattern is a separate phase of operation, not the circling maneuver to align with the landing runway.