STAR Light STAR Bright
By Ian Elchitz (IE)

Star Light, Star Bright,
What STAR shall I file tonight?
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Choose the right STAR for LAX Tonight
- New ZLA Pilot

“LA Center, it's Southwest 106 checking in with you FL350”

“Southwest 106, Los Angeles Center - Good Evening. Do you have the Paradise 4 Arrival on board?”

“Ummm… We thought we filed for the Yenni 6 but we will take a look for it, 106”

If you have ever flown into ZLA on your way to Los Angeles International (KLAX) chances are that at one time or another you have been rerouted. Most pilots cheerfully comply with ATC reroutes but probably think to themselves “Why is this guy changing my beautiful flight plan?”

ZLA has three major inbound routes to KLAX that run overland. From the Northwest it’s the SADDE arrival, from the Northeast it’s the CIVET arrival, and from the East it’s the PARADISE arrival. We’re going to review all three of the arrivals and go through what you can expect while flying them.

Northwest - SADDE ARRIVAL

The SADDE arrival is the second busiest inbound traffic corridor in ZLA. Traffic from places such as Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose all filter from Avenal (AVE) down to Fillmore (FIM) and eventually east along the Malibu shoreline before entering a downwind leg for KLAX over Santa Monica (SMO). ATC will generally give you your descent instructions after you check in near Avenal (AVE).

“LA Center, Southwest 1156 with you over Avenal FL290”

“Southwest 1156, Los Angeles Center - Good Morning. Cross SYMON at and maintain 12,000. Los Angeles Altimeter 2992”

“SYMON at 12,000 and copy the altimeter for Southwest 1156”

This means that you can start down whenever you like - as long as you are at 12,000 feet when you cross SYMON intersection - 12nm south of the Fillmore (FIM) VOR. ATC may also issue a speed restriction either at SYMON or during your descent so please plan accordingly.

At some point during your descent - usually near the Fillmore (FIM) VOR center will hand you off to the approach controller.

“Southwest 1156 contact SoCal approach on 124.50”

During normal operations, SoCal approach will offer pilots on the SADDE arrival the ILS 24R approach. If you want to fly one of the published visual approaches (Harbor or Stadium) be sure to ask as soon as you check in with approach. When you check in with SoCal they will usually assign this to you as well as give you the weather and another crossing restriction. Remember to listen in on the frequency for 5-10 seconds before checking in as the SoCal approach sector is usually quite busy.

“SoCal - Southwest 1156 with ya 15,000 descending 12”

“Southwest 1156, SoCal approach - Cross Santa Monica at 7,000 expect the ILS 24R approach - Los Angeles reporting calm winds, VFR skies altimeter 2992”

“Santa Monica at 7, ILS 24R, and check the weather for Southwest 1156”

It’s important that you do not descend below 7000 before you get to Santa Monica (SMO) - unless instructed to do so by ATC - as there are aircraft that will be crossing underneath you at 6000’ on the GORMAN (GMN) departure. Sometime before you get to Santa Monica (SMO) the approach controller will issue some approach vectors to you:

“Southwest 1156, departing Santa Monica fly heading 065, descend and maintain 2,500. Vectors ILS 24R approach”

This simply means that AFTER YOU CROSS Santa Monica (SMO) you should fly a 065 heading and descend out of 7000 for 2500. You are now on a downwind leg and it’s time to get low, slow, and dirty up. Depending on aircraft type, you should be flying at a speed of around 170-180 knots indicated airspeed by the time you reach 3,000’ or so. The length of downwind you’ll fly will depend somewhat on how much other traffic the controller has to sequence, but usually within three to four minutes after passing Santa Monica, you’ll hear the following:

“Southwest 1156, 6 miles from JETSA, turn right heading 220, maintain 2,500 until established on the localizer, cleared ILS approach runway 24R”

This is a tight turn so you want to be reducing speed. If all goes well, not long after you reach the 220 heading you’ll start to receive the localizer, at which time you’ll make a further right turn to 249, which is the approach course. As you establish on the localizer, the glideslope should be kicking in, and you’ll descend on the ILS to the runway.

For more information on the SADDE to ILS 24R approach from a controller perspective, be sure to read David Walsh's article on Vectoring to Runway 24R. This article discussed other standard methods used to vector traffic onto 24R.

Northeast - CIVET Arrival

The CIVET arrival is the most often used arrival in ZLA, and perhaps one of the most heavily flown on VATSIM in the US. Traffic coming in from Bryce Canyon (BCE), Boulder City (BLD), Tuba City (TBC), and Peach Springs (PGS) all get filtered through the Hector (HEC) VOR and then fly on down to the CIVET intersection for the arrival. Some pilots try to take a shortcut and fly directly to CIVET from some places - if you plan that, chances are you will get routed through the HEC VOR before CIVET. This gives ATC a chance to step everyone down to a similar altitude and sequence all of the aircraft for the approach controller.

While with center the radio traffic usually goes something like this:

“Center good afternoon UPS921 checking in FL390”

“UPS921, Los Angeles Center - Good Afternoon, Cross Hector (HEC) at FL240”

“Hector at FL240 for 921”

Some people tend to get upset that they are stepped down to FL240 so “early”. You have to consider that there are multiple streams of traffic that merge over Hector (HEC) and by putting everyone at the same altitude - it makes things a lot easier to sequence aircraft.

Shortly after crossing Hector (HEC) you will be asked to descend to the lowest available Flight Level - depending on the current Altimeter.

“UPS921, Descend and Maintain FL180”

“Leaving FL240 for FL180, UPS921”

Soon after you reach FL180 you will be shipped over to SoCal Approach. If you take a good look at the CIVET arrival, you will notice that on each of the altitudes it says something similar to “Cross at XXXX”. Most other arrivals say “EXPECT to cross at XXXX”. The CIVET arrival is a “PROFILE DESCENT”. Once the controller clears you to descend on it, you just follow the altitudes on the chart.

“SoCal, UPS921 Heavy checking in FL180”

“UPS921 Heavy, SoCal approach - good afternoon. Descend via the CIVET4 arrival. Expect the ILS25L approach. Los Angeles Altimeter 3015”

“Descend on the CIVET arrival; expect 25L, 3015, UPS921 Heavy”

You are now cleared to descend on that arrival as shown on the chart. A few miles before you get to FUELR you should be able to pick up the localizer for ILS 25L (109.90 I-LAX OBS 249). A few miles before FUELR the controller will clear you for the approach with:

“UPS921 heavy departing FUELR, Cleared ILS 25L approach”

“After FUELR cleared 25L approach for UPS921 Heavy”

That’s that - lock on to that localizer and after crossing FUELR at 8000 start a gradual descent until the Glideslope kicks in. Welcome to SoCal captain! Many pilots don’t know that there is a “TWIN” arrival to the CIVET - the MITTS arrival. It is a profile descent starting at CIVET with a course a few miles to the north. Naturally this arrival lines up aircraft for the NORTH side of the field - primarily runway 24R. This arrival is commonly used by Southwest (SWA), American West (AWE) or "Cactus", and Air Canada (ACA). Try it sometime and you might be in for a fun parallel approach!

East - Paradise Arrival

The PARADISE (PDZ) arrival is the most under-utilized arrival in ZLA. For some reason, pilots on VATSIM flying in from the east always want to head for the CIVET Arrival. If you are arriving in ZLA from Drake (DRK), Gila Bend (GBN), Buckeye (BXK), or Parker (PKE) you should head to Twenty Nine Palms (TNP) and join the PARADISE Arrival. If you are arriving from Mexico it is suggested that you head for Julian (JLI) to join the PARADISE Arrival.

The PARADISE is similar to the CIVET arrival in that it is a Profile Descent. The Center controller will issue you an initial crossing restriction which puts you at the proper altitude for handoff to SoCal approach.

“LA Center it’s American 200 checking in at FL350 on J74”

“American 200, Los Angeles Center, Cross KONZL at and maintain 17,000. Los Angeles Altimeter 2986. Good Morning”

“OK KONZL at 17, Niner Eight Six for American 200 - Good Morning!”

This clearance allows you to descend at your discretion - as long you cross KONZL at 17,000. After a scenic descent through the Coachella Valley with the massive peaks of Mt. Jacinto at your 9 O’clock - Center will hand you off to SoCal approach.

“SoCal - Good morning American 200 is through FL190 descending 17”

“American 200, SoCal approach - Good Morning. Descend via the Paradise 4 arrival expect the ILS25L approach. Altimeter 2986”

“Descend on the Paradise arrival for 25L - American 200”

You are now cleared to descend on the arrival exactly as per the altitudes on the chart at TRTLE, RIFFT, and TEJAY. Make note of the runway that was assigned to you by SoCal Approach - chances are it will either be 24R or 25L. SoCal will clear you for the approach before you get to the waypoint where you would turn to join the localizer.

“American 200, departing ARNES cleared ILS25L approach”

“After ARNES cleared 25L approach for American 200”

You are now expected to make a left turn to 249 after crossing ARNES and descend to cross SUZZI at 9000 and FUELR at 8000. Somewhere near FUELR you will pick up the Localizer for ILS 25L. That’s it! You just flew the PARADISE (PDZ) Arrival.

Final Approach

The ZLA controllers make every attempt to handle aircraft on all three of these arrivals in a consistent format. You should expect to be handled relatively the same way every time you fly these arrivals. If you don’t have the charts for these arrivals on board - then please do not FILE the arrival in your flight plan.

If you fly to KLAX on a regular basis (and we hope you do) I suggest that you print out and keep all three of these arrivals handy. The ZLA ARTCC has gone to great lengths to provide easy to find and simple to use charts for all of their pilot friends. Charts for KLAX and all other ZLA airports can be found on this site by clicking on "Airports & Charts" in the left menu.

If you have any other questions about these arrivals or any other procedures in ZLA - please feel free to leave a message on the public forum. The controllers love it when pilots ask questions - no matter how simple or complex they might seem.