Late within the night of Jan. 10, 2023, an necessary digital system often known as NOTAM run by the Federal Aviation Administration went offline. The FAA was in a position to proceed getting vital data to pilots in a single day utilizing a phone-based backup, however the stopgap couldn’t sustain with the morning rush of flights, and on Jan. 11, 2022, the FAA grounded all business flights within the U.S. In whole, almost 7,000 flights have been canceled. Brian Strzempkowksi is the interim director of the Center for Aviation Studies at The Ohio State University and a business pilot, flight teacher and dispatcher. He explains what the NOTAM system is and why planes can’t fly if the system goes down.
What is NOTAM?
Aviation is filled with acronyms, and Notice to Air Missions, or NOTAM, is one acronym that pilots study early on of their coaching. A NOTAM is kind of merely a message that’s disseminated to flight crews of each plane within the US.
The NOTAM system is a pc community run by the Federal Aviation Administration that gives real-time updates to crews about conditions regarding climate, infrastructure, floor circumstances or the rest which will have an effect on the security of flight. Trained professionals—like air visitors controllers, airport managers, airport operations personnel, and FAA personnel answerable for nationwide airspace infrastructure—can entry the system and enter any data they should share broadly.
Pilots, air visitors controllers, and anybody else who must learn about flying circumstances can entry the NOTAM system and make applicable adjustments to deliberate flights. It’s just like checking the visitors in your telephone or on the native information earlier than you head to work within the morning. A visitors report will inform you of potential hazards or backups on the roadways which will lead you are taking a special path to work.
What’s within the NOTAM system and the way is it used?
NOTAMs are issued for a variety of causes. Some of the notices are good to know however don’t have an effect on a flight—resembling personnel mowing grass alongside a runway or a crane engaged on a constructing subsequent to the airport. Others are extra essential, resembling a runway being closed due to snow, ice or harm, forcing a airplane to take off or land on a special runway. Changes in entry to airspace are additionally logged with a NOTAM. For instance, airspace is at all times closed above the president and when she or he travels; a NOTAM will alert pilots to adjustments in airspace closures.
Pilots assessment these NOTAMs throughout their preflight briefings. Generally that is carried out digitally utilizing a pc, however pilots and air visitors controllers may entry the system by calling flight service briefers, who can share stay climate and NOTAM data. Airline pilots additionally depend on their dispatchers to relay any related NOTAMs not solely earlier than but in addition in the course of the flight.
The NOTAMs themselves use lots of abbreviations and are sometimes cryptic to nonaviation of us, however a small quantity of textual content can carry lots of data. Hundreds of various acronyms can convey a spread of knowledge, from taxiway closures to sure forms of airport lighting being out of service to a discover that some pavement markings could also be obscured.
But not all NOTAMs are easy. I bear in mind as soon as seeing a discover from an airport alerting pilots {that a} hearth division was conducting a managed burn of a home close by.
Why can’t you fly if the NOTAM system is down?
The Federal Aviation Authority requires flight crews to assessment NOTAMs earlier than each flight for security causes. Without entry to this data, a airplane can’t legally depart, as a result of there could also be an unknown hazard forward.
As an instance, a pilot departing Seattle to fly to Miami would want to know that the Miami airport is open, that the runways are clear and that each one the navigational sources—like GPS alerts and ground-based navigation antennas—{that a} pilot could use whereas within the air are working. Theoretically, they may name the Miami airport and ask, after which name the one that oversees each navigational support on their route, however that may take lots of time. A way more environment friendly technique to collect this data earlier than and through a flight is to make use of the NOTAM system.
At the top of the day, the NOTAM system is about security. When the system is down, pilots can’t fly as safely. It is for good motive that planes don’t go anyplace until the NOTAM system is up and operating.
Brian Strzempkowski is Interim Director, Center for Aviation Studies, The Ohio State University
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