As pilot in command, you are the person ultimately responsible for the safety of every flight. Even when communicating with air traffic control, it is up to you to decide whether you can comply with the controller’s instructions. And if you can’t, it’s acceptable—and expected—that you will decline.

For example, when you approach an airport that has land-and-hold-short operations (LAHSO) in effect, you should advise the tower on initial contact if you are a student pilot flying solo. The FAA directs ATC not to issue LAHSO clearances to solo student pilots.

As a certificated private pilot, it is still perfectly acceptable to decline a LAHSO clearance if you don’t feel confident that you and the airplane can both safely complete that procedure.

The purpose of LAHSO is to help ATC increase traffic tempo by allowing aircraft to land without authorizing the landing aircraft to use the full length of the runway. A LAHSO clearance contains an instruction to "hold short of" a specified point on the runway—usually an intersecting runway or taxiway. The pilot who accepts a LAHSO clearance is expected to land and exit the runway before that runway’s hold short point—or hold short on the runway if unable to exit.

There are situations in which LAHSO clearances will not be issued to any pilot, including in weather conditions with a ceiling of less than 1,000 feet and visibility less than 3 statute miles, at night, or if the runway is wet.

If you are given a LAHSO clearance, there are a few things you should know before accepting it. The first thing is the landing distance available before the hold short point. The available landing distance (ALD) is published in the chart supplement and can also be found in the U.S. Terminal Procedures publications. The next piece of information you need is the weather at the destination airport at your estimated arrival time, in order to calculate your performance data. Knowing the runway available and runway required will tell you whether your airplane can complete the procedure in the landing distance available.

It should be part of your preflight check to know if your destination has LAHSO procedures at all. If so, run the performance numbers so you know in advance whether you can safely accept such a clearance. If you do accept, ATC requires you to read back the full clearance to ensure accuracy.

Information about LAHSO can be found in Chapter 14 of the Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge and Chapter 4 of the Aeronautical Information Manual.