Getting the MOCA

Robert M. Gary wrote:
Sam Spade wrote:

Dan wrote:


What are the odds of getting the MOCA instead of the MEA going from the
Phoenix area to Santa Fe? Anyone know? I like to be IFR for the
services, but the MEAs are a pain....

--Dan


The MOCA cannot be assigned except within 22 miles of the VOR station,
nor can you legally request it. It's your responsibility to use a
Victor airway within the rules.


That's actually not true. It is legal to fly any altitude you are
assigned. The controller's minimum altitude in that area may be lower
than your MEA.

-Robert


A center MIA in some cases is, indeed, lower than a particular Victor
Airways MEA and, in some cases, the MIA may be higher.

And, if ATC is willing to provide the service, which includes radar
monitoring of your progress when assigned a Victor Airway below the MEA,
that is, of course legal.

But, it isn't assignment of the Victor Airway because the Victor Airway
simply doesn't exist below its MEA (or MOCA beyond 22 miles) as a matter
of regulation.

That is why the careful controller states, in such circumstances, "via
the radials of Victor such-and-such."