ATC approach instructions issues (too late and high altitude)

Bug Reporting Hub ATC, Traffic & NAVAIDs
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41

It depends on what kind of flight plan you have. For IFR for example with A320 and Sid and Stars it works fine. What I do is turn speed down to 220 and descent rate to -1800 until 10000 ft. Then I change it to descent rate to -1000 and speed to 210. This has always worked and usually reach ILS or approach altitude at the right moment. (Also do the same with ATR, and other airliners).

I’ve noticed that if you do not have a STAR at destination sometimes ATC tells you to start descending too late. But not always.

I think it also has to do with airport. Some airports might be buggy.

But for the most part, ATC is right on at the time it tells you to start descending.

42

Few things to note yes ATC is horribly bugged but also a lot is user error
Some complain about being to high and get instructions to late it is possible that you are not descending quick enough and are far to high, ATC tends to only give descent instructions ( Except very late on) when you reach the last requested alt so if you’re to high you will get them late. i usually do initial descents around 2000 fpm then later on 1500 fpm. i also tend to descend at idle thrust

There is a known bug that it will descend you to the approach minimums then suddenly ask you to climb, this IS a bug i just ignore it and stick at my approach minimums according to the charts .

As for ATC moaning you’re below your assigned altitude this is probably due to you not having set the correct barometric pressure above around 18,000 set to standard (29.92) you should by atc be given the local barometric on approach though it usually gives it late

43

To this very day, default ATC has seen no improvement from the dev team. It appears it’s going to be left to addons like Beyond ATC to fix things. I’m also disappointed that there appears to be no mention of improved default ATC for MSFS 2024. I can’t see any features listed in 2024 that has me thinking “Wow! Take my money Asobo”. It’s all once again focusing on eye-candy at the expense of those who, you know, might like a great experience in IFR realism rather than VFR. Quite underwhelming :confused:

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From the most recent (Oct. 12) dev update:

  • ATC Bugs | SU 14+

    • Several bug fixes targeted for SU_14. Additional bug fixes and improvements will continue to be added afterwards.
1 Like
45

:wave: Thank you using the Bug section, using templates provided will greatly help the team reproducing the issue and ease the process of fixing it.

Are you using Developer Mode or made changes in it?

No

Which aircraft are you using that experiences this issue?

This time PMDG 738 but with any heavy aircraft

Brief description of the issue:

ATC seems to be on target with altitudes when climbing, but fails to bring the altitude down when decending. Today, ATC was not giving me the descent shown in the FMC and continued to try to send me to 27000 until I was at about 20 miles from KJFK and suddenly told me to climb to 18000, then almost immediately climb to 12000, then descend to 2000. I was already at 2000 as my FMC told me I should be.

Provide Screenshot(s)/video(s) of the issue encountered:

None available

Detailed steps to reproduce the issue encountered:

Fly most any heavy aircraft into most any airport big enough to accomodate.

PC specs and peripheral set up:

AMD Ryzen 5 5600G, RTX3060, 16GB RAM, Honeycomb Alpha and Bravo.

Are you using DX11 or DX12?

DX12

Are you using DLSS?

Yes

:loudspeaker: For anyone who wants to contribute to this issue, Click on the button below to use this template:

Do you have the same issue if you follow the OP’s steps to reproduce it?

Provide extra information to complete the original description of the issue:

Are you using DX11 or DX12?

Are you using DLSS?

If relevant, provide additional screenshots/video:

46

Pilot error, most likely. Follow the flight plan you created on the World map and ATC will give you correct altitudes. Also fly approach given by ATC, not what you planed before in your FMC.

47

Flight Plan and altitudes imported from SimBrief.

48

To the World map, plane FMC or both? Also, runway assigned by Simbrief is not always the same that is active in the game. Wind direction do change so ATC will assign a different runway/approach. I flew to PAJN today and Simbrief gave me runway 08 but ATC cleared me to 26.

49

ISSUE DESCRIPTION

Description of the issue:
I had a scenery where landing announcment for final was requested 12 seconds before i reached runway. This is to late. Something in the concept is wrong. Must be much more that 30 seconds before.

[PC Only] Did you remove all your community mods/add-ons? If yes, are you still experiencing the issue?
have none

FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

How often does this occur for you (Example: Just once, every time on sim load, intermittently)?
in named mission. but general ATC design problem for missions.

MEDIA

Scenery screenshot: (scenery-lateaccouncement hosted at ImgBB — ImgBB)
Video of issue: (Bug Short Announcement)

[END OF FIRST USER REPORT]

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Do you have the same issue if you follow the OP’s steps to reproduce it?
•

Provide extra information to complete the original description of the issue:
•

If relevant, provide additional screenshots/video:
•

50

Huge difference in ATC between FS2020 and FS2024!! I just flew the exact same flight plan with the same plane in both. 2020 ATC correctly guided me down in a few steps from FL320 to 2500 final with no problems.
2024 ATC asked me to descend to 2800 way too late, then immediately told me to climb back to FL320, then descend again, then climb again… At 10 km from final it still insisted I should expedite a climb back to FL320. I had no choice but to ignore the nonsense.
It’s not pilot error. It’s just plain broken. Why would something as basic as ATC that worked pretty well in 2020 become completely out of whack in the so-called new and improved version? More variety of AI voices is cool but not if the instructions make no sense.
Sadly looks like another case of if it’s not broke - redo it - add some eye (or ear) candy and forget functionality. Game or sim? :thinking:

3 Likes
51

I have exactly this problem, I request to descend from 30,000 to 20,000 feet, and the control tower says YES! Then, when I reach 24,000, they tell me to climb back to 30,000! Even worse, near the end of the flight, they ask me to go to 26,000, then five minutes later, down to 8,000!!! It’s impossible to reach the runway at the right altitude! And if you don’t follow their instructions, you get a penalty!

On PC - with 737 MAX !

52

ISSUE DESCRIPTION

Description of the issue:

The ATC gives way to late the order to descent on an planned IFR flight. You have either the choice of having the atc constantly yelling at you to climb again - or to overshoot your destination extremely. It makes no sense, that the atc keeps you at FL400 when you are only 15 NM awqy from your destination and even your vnav would have been triggered long ago.

Today I had it on my way to Tallinn.

The atc yelled at me almost 20 minutes way down from FL 450, as my VNAV worked correctly… but not the atcs descent calculations.

FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

How often does this occur for you (Example: Just once, every time on sim load, intermittently)?

Very often

REPRODUCTION STEPS

Please list clear steps you took in order to help our test team reproduce the same issue:

  1. Do an IFR flight, e.g. to an Airport with ILS approach and direct transition

  2. Observe atc allowing you to descent way to late

YOUR SETTINGS

If the issue still occurs with no mods and add-ons, please continue to report your issue. If not, please move this post to the User Support Hub.

What peripherals are you using, if relevant:

PS5