Lateral separation

Lateral Separation
Lateral separation is a term that is more used in the air-traffic control area of aviation then in actual flight.

LATERAL SEPARATION- The lateral spacing of aircraft at the same altitude by requiring operation on different routes or in different geographical locations.
(See SEPARATION.)
LDA- ...

Lateral separation from displayed obstacles is 3 miles. Visual separation is not allowed by IFR aircraft from obstacles, even if in sight. Radar separation remains in effect.

There are of course many cases where it makes sense to fly below the sector altitudes, for instance if you have lateral separation from tall towers or mountain peaks.

Critical Aircraft: In airport design, the aircraft that controls one or more design items such as runway length, pavement strength, lateral separation, etc., for a particular airport. The same aircraft may not be critical to all design items.

See also: Airway, IFR, VFR, Clearance, Flight plan