Narrative:

Air carrier flight from lga to clt. I don't remember exactly what approach we were flying. We were told to circle to land on another runway at clt because our runway had debris on it. The WX was below basic VFR with a reported visibility of 2 mi. Our operation specifications does not provide for a circling approach below VFR minimums. Just prior to commencing this circling approach I asked an open question to the captain and first officer saying, 'aren't we prohibited from circling in IFR conditions?' and received no response. We circled and landed west/O incident, however, pucker factor was very high since the approach was made low to the surface. I posed the question once again at the gate and received apathetic responses from both crew members. This was clearly a violation of our operations specifications.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACR LGT CONDUCTS CIRCLING APCH BELOW OPS SPECS MINIMUMS AT CLT.

Narrative: ACR FLT FROM LGA TO CLT. I DON'T REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT APCH WE WERE FLYING. WE WERE TOLD TO CIRCLE TO LAND ON ANOTHER RWY AT CLT BECAUSE OUR RWY HAD DEBRIS ON IT. THE WX WAS BELOW BASIC VFR WITH A RPTED VISIBILITY OF 2 MI. OUR OPERATION SPECS DOES NOT PROVIDE FOR A CIRCLING APCH BELOW VFR MINIMUMS. JUST PRIOR TO COMMENCING THIS CIRCLING APCH I ASKED AN OPEN QUESTION TO THE CAPT AND F/O SAYING, 'AREN'T WE PROHIBITED FROM CIRCLING IN IFR CONDITIONS?' AND RECEIVED NO RESPONSE. WE CIRCLED AND LANDED W/O INCIDENT, HOWEVER, PUCKER FACTOR WAS VERY HIGH SINCE THE APCH WAS MADE LOW TO THE SURFACE. I POSED THE QUESTION ONCE AGAIN AT THE GATE AND RECEIVED APATHETIC RESPONSES FROM BOTH CREW MEMBERS. THIS WAS CLRLY A VIOLATION OF OUR OPS SPECS.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.