Narrative:

Ito runway 8 visual approaches; especially at night or marginal VFR conditions; constitutes increased risk and requires additional resources to mitigate this risk. The ito airport information pages directs us to 'at night; plan on arrivals to runway 26;' but tailwinds and wet runways often prevent this option. The airport information pages also directs us to 'follow the shoreline south to hilo bay to intercept runway 8 final.' the issue is that the shoreline is only 1.5 NM west of the approach end of the extended centerline of runway 8; which correlates to a maximum wings level altitude of 500 feet AGL upon rollout for a three degree glideslope. To even achieve this minimum; the approach requires 'cheating' by offsetting further inland over downtown hilo prior to the turn to final; to account for the turn radius which would be even greater with increased speeds associated with a flaps 15; single engine approach (such as an ETOPS single engine divert event); or accepting a steeper glideslope and rate of descent. Additive conditions such as the common inclement weather and winds and relatively sparse ambient lighting associated with hilo; high terrain; (company) crews' relative unfamiliarity with the new ito service; and the short inter-island flight times (which limit time to brief and prepare for a challenging approach) all add to the increased risk. Inter-island flying is often benign; but the ito runway 8 visual is a challenging approach under the best of circumstances and could surprise unfamiliar ETOPS aircrew without adequate awareness and preparation.I recommend the following steps be taken to mitigate the ito runway 8 visual.1. Expedite the creation of an RNAV visual to ito runway 8 to assist in situational awareness during the approach.2. Make all ito runway 8 approaches captain only landings until the RNAV 8 approach is created. The descending left hand turn landing is even more challenging for the first officer who has to look through the captain during the approach; and the additional experience level of the captain should help mitigate the risk.3. Increase awareness through rbf's; notes on weather packets and dispatch releases describing the risks associated with the ito runway 8 approach.4. Encourage briefing of ito runway 8 visual approach procedures on the ground prior to departing for ito when runway 8 is in use; due to the short inter-island flight time.5. Add a module to ETOPS recurrent training specifically addressing the ito runway 8 operations.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air Carrier Captain reported that there are several high risk elements associated with conducting Runway 8 visual approaches into ITO (PHTO) airport; especially when conducting the approach at night or in marginal VFR conditions; which is common at that location.

Narrative: ITO Runway 8 Visual Approaches; especially at night or marginal VFR conditions; constitutes increased risk and requires additional resources to mitigate this risk. The ITO airport information pages directs us to 'at night; plan on arrivals to Runway 26;' but tailwinds and wet runways often prevent this option. The airport information pages also directs us to 'follow the shoreline south to Hilo Bay to intercept Runway 8 final.' The issue is that the shoreline is only 1.5 NM west of the approach end of the extended centerline of Runway 8; which correlates to a maximum wings level altitude of 500 feet AGL upon rollout for a three degree glideslope. To even achieve this minimum; the approach requires 'cheating' by offsetting further inland over downtown Hilo prior to the turn to final; to account for the turn radius which would be even greater with increased speeds associated with a flaps 15; single engine approach (such as an ETOPS single engine divert event); or accepting a steeper glideslope and rate of descent. Additive conditions such as the common inclement weather and winds and relatively sparse ambient lighting associated with Hilo; high terrain; (Company) Crews' relative unfamiliarity with the new ITO service; and the short inter-island flight times (which limit time to brief and prepare for a challenging approach) all add to the increased risk. Inter-island flying is often benign; but the ITO Runway 8 Visual is a challenging approach under the best of circumstances and could surprise unfamiliar ETOPS Aircrew without adequate awareness and preparation.I recommend the following steps be taken to mitigate the ITO Runway 8 Visual.1. Expedite the creation of an RNAV visual to ITO Runway 8 to assist in situational awareness during the approach.2. Make all ITO Runway 8 approaches Captain Only landings until the RNAV 8 Approach is created. The descending left hand turn landing is even more challenging for the FO who has to look through the Captain during the approach; and the additional experience level of the Captain should help mitigate the risk.3. Increase awareness through RBF's; notes on weather packets and Dispatch Releases describing the risks associated with the ITO Runway 8 Approach.4. Encourage briefing of ITO Runway 8 Visual Approach procedures on the ground prior to departing for ITO when Runway 8 is in use; due to the short inter-island flight time.5. Add a module to ETOPS recurrent training specifically addressing the ITO Runway 8 operations.

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.