by Dave Weiman
Published in Midwest Flyer Magazine February/March 2023 Digital Issue
The recent fiasco on January 11, 2023, involving the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and its lack of a backup system for the highly relied on 30-year-old electronic NOTAM system, has brought attention to the acronym, and its recent change in definitions.
Previously, the FAA changed the widely accepted air traffic control instructions “Taxi Into Position and Hold” (on the departure runway) to “Line Up and Wait.” And according to the FAA, we can no longer climb into the “cockpit,” but rather we must enter the “flight deck!” Will the names of airplane parts be next, or has that already begun?
Most recently, the agency has changed the definition of the acronym “NOTAM” from Notice to Airmen to Notice to Air Missions.
One would think it would have made more sense had the agency instead changed the acronym to something like “NOTOP,” meaning Notice To Pilots, but at least they preserved the acronym “NOTAM,” and we commend them for that.
For review purposes, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Annex 11, Air Traffic Services, a NOTAM is “a notice containing information concerning the establishment, condition or change in any aeronautical facility, service, procedure or hazard, the timely knowledge of which is essential to personnel concerned with flight operations.”
NOTAMs are issued by national authorities for a number of reasons, such as:
• Hazards such as air-shows, parachute jumps and glider or micro-light flying;
• Flights by important people such as heads of state;
• Closed runways, taxiways, etc;
• Unserviceable radio navigational aids;
• Military exercises with resulting airspace restrictions;
• Unserviceable lights on tall obstructions;
• Temporary erection of obstacles near airfields (e.g., cranes).
For reasons of conciseness and precision, NOTAMs are encoded, although the code is usually sufficiently self-evident to allow the user to identify a hazard.
NOTAMs are communicated by the issuing agency using the fastest available means to all addressees for whom the information is assessed as being of direct operational significance, and who would not otherwise have at least seven days’ prior notification.
Flight crew access to current NOTAMS during preflight planning may be via airport Flight Briefing Facilities provided for all aircraft operators or via an alternative ‘tailored access’ system provided by their company which will provide access only to NOTAMS relevant to their intended flight.
Trigger NOTAMs serve to alert those who maintain aeronautical databases that specific changes will be effective soon, usually at the next AIRAC date. A trigger NOTAM contains a brief description of the contents of the amendment or supplement, the effective date and the reference number of the amendment or supplement. It is usually valid for 14 days.
Snow conditions are notified, not by NOTAM, but by a special message called SNOWTAM. Similarly, volcanic ash is notified as a special message known as an ASHTAM.
Full details concerning the content and distribution of NOTAMs, SNOWTAMs and ASHTAMs are contained in ICAO Annex 15.
Let’s hope the FAA will use some of the money authorized by Congress to update, back-up and modernize our NOTAM system. In the meantime, pilots need to stay up to date on FAA’s changes in acronyms and their definitions.
