Holding pattern

Also written as: hold, holding procedure, racetrack pattern.

The fix is simply a geographical location that serves as a reference for the procedure. Nothing in the definition restricts it to a particular kind of navigation aid: it can be a VOR, an NDB, a DME fix, an intersection of two radials, or a GNSS waypoint. The idea that holding requires a VOR or an NDB is one of the more common misconceptions about it.

ICAO builds its holding procedures around right turns, and describes left-turn patterns as symmetrical to them. ICAO itself never calls these standard and non-standard patterns. That labelling comes from the FAA, and although it is used almost universally in training, it is worth knowing which document it belongs to.

Leg length is normally expressed as the outbound time: one minute at or below 14,000 ft, and one and a half minutes above that. A DME distance may be published instead. All turns are flown at 25 degrees of bank or a rate of 3 degrees per second, whichever needs the smaller bank, and that one is a mandatory requirement rather than a recommendation.

The most common imprecision is describing holding as always being one-minute racetrack legs. That figure is only the default at or below 14,000 ft, it is written as a recommendation rather than an absolute, and a distance-based leg is equally valid wherever DME is available.

Where this comes up

• Holding patterns explained
• How to determine hold entry