Narrative:

A C210 was level at 11;100 ft for the mia in the area west of his destination. Nearing a point where pilots tend to request lower for approach to the airport; the pilot requested a cruise clearance and I granted it; saying 'cruise 11;100 ft.' not long after his read back; I recalled that; due to his destination having a published instrument approach; a cruise clearance without some form of crossing restriction was illegal. In retrospect; I feel like I let him talk me in to issuing a cruise clearance before I took all factors in to account. Cruise clearances are increasingly archaic in this era of increasing RNAV approach capability. This was the first opportunity I had to issue one in quite some time; and I applied it incorrectly. Some sort of refresher and official national interpretation of what a cruise clearance is; along with its issuance requirements and consequences would be of use; particularly emphasizing their use on unpublished routes. There was a d-side trainee next to me with ojti in progress; and after realizing what I did and discussing it a bit with them; the trainer had the trainee look up cruise clearances in the .65 on erids while proceeding to give; what I interpret to be a bad example; of a cruise clearance off the ground.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Enroute Controller issued a 'cruise' clearance to an IFR aircraft inbound to an airport with an instrument approach procedure; noting his belief that the clearance was improper without the issuance of crossing restrictions.

Narrative: A C210 was level at 11;100 FT for the MIA in the area west of his destination. Nearing a point where pilots tend to request lower for approach to the airport; the pilot requested a cruise clearance and I granted it; saying 'cruise 11;100 FT.' Not long after his read back; I recalled that; due to his destination having a published instrument approach; a cruise clearance without some form of crossing restriction was illegal. In retrospect; I feel like I let him talk me in to issuing a cruise clearance before I took all factors in to account. Cruise clearances are increasingly archaic in this era of increasing RNAV approach capability. This was the first opportunity I had to issue one in quite some time; and I applied it incorrectly. Some sort of refresher and official national interpretation of what a cruise clearance is; along with its issuance requirements and consequences would be of use; particularly emphasizing their use on unpublished routes. There was a D-Side trainee next to me with OJTI in progress; and after realizing what I did and discussing it a bit with them; the trainer had the trainee look up cruise clearances in the .65 on ERIDS while proceeding to give; what I interpret to be a bad example; of a cruise clearance off the ground.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.