A320 captain reported the mmgl approach controller issued an inappropriate and unsafe altitude on ap...

Narrative:

We were enroute to mmgl airport from the north and were given a descent from FL340 to 11;000 feet by ATC enroute controller (mexico center). As we approached 11;000 feet we were switched to mmgl approach control which gave us a further descent to 6;500 feet and vectors for the ILS approach to runway 10. The weather was VFR except for a thin layer of clouds above the terrain. As we descended below the clouds on an ATC vector we noticed that the altitude of 6;500 feet given by ATC was too low in order to maintain a safe margin from the terrain. We then leveled off at a safe altitude above the terrain; informed ATC of our level off; and also that the airport runway was in sight. ATC cleared us then for a visual approach to runway 10. We then maintained our altitude till intercepting the glide slope for runway 10 and made a normal landing. The ATC approach controller may have been new and did not consider the terrain or minimun vectoring altitude for the terrain area we were flying in.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 Captain reported the MMGL Approach Controller issued an inappropriate and unsafe altitude on approach to Runway 10. Flight crew stayed at a safe altitude and flew a visual approach.

Narrative: We were enroute to MMGL airport from the north and were given a descent from FL340 to 11;000 feet by ATC enroute controller (Mexico Center). As we approached 11;000 feet we were switched to MMGL approach control which gave us a further descent to 6;500 feet and vectors for the ILS approach to runway 10. The weather was VFR except for a thin layer of clouds above the terrain. As we descended below the clouds on an ATC vector we noticed that the altitude of 6;500 feet given by ATC was too low in order to maintain a safe margin from the terrain. We then leveled off at a safe altitude above the terrain; informed ATC of our level off; and also that the airport runway was in sight. ATC cleared us then for a visual approach to runway 10. We then maintained our altitude till intercepting the glide slope for runway 10 and made a normal landing. The ATC approach controller may have been new and did not consider the terrain or minimun vectoring altitude for the terrain area we were flying in.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1278046
Time
Date	201507
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	MMZT.ARTCC
State Reference	FO
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A320
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Engineer Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 250 Flight Crew Total 25800 Flight Crew Type 1200
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types

A320 captain reported the mmgl approach controller issued an inappropriate and unsafe altitude on approach to runway 10. Flight crew stayed at a safe altitude and flew a visual approach.