A Notice to Airmen/Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM), is a notice filed with an aviation authority to alert aircraft pilots of potential hazards along a flight route or at a location that could affect the flight. NOTAMs are unclassified notices or advisories distributed by means of telecommunication that contain information concerning the establishment, conditions or change in any aeronautical facility, service, procedure or hazard, the timely knowledge of which is essential to personnel and systems concerned with flight operations. NOTAMs are created and transmitted by government agencies and airport operators under guidelines specified by Annex 15: Aeronautical Information Services of the

Convention on International Civil Aviation The Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the Chicago Convention, established the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations charged with coordinating international air trave ...

(CICA). The

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

''NOTAM'' came into common use following the ratification of the CICA, which came into effect on 4 April 1947. Notices to airmen were normally published in a regular publication by each country's air authorities (e.g., in ''

Flight International ''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's oldes ...

'' magazine in the UK). A number of developments and amendments to the CICA have resulted in the more automated system available today. A NOTAM is filed with an aviation authority to alert aircraft pilots of any hazards ''en route'' or at a specific location. The authority in turn provides a means of disseminating relevant NOTAMs to pilots.

Usage

NOTAMs are issued (and reported) for a number of reasons, such as: * hazards such as air shows, parachute jumps, kite flying, lasers, rocket launches, etc. * flights by important people such as heads of state (sometimes referred to as

temporary flight restriction The Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) are rules prescribed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) governing all aviation activities in the United States. The FARs comprise Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). A wide variety o ...

s, TFRs) * closed runways * inoperable radio navigational aids * military exercises with resulting airspace restrictions * inoperable lights on tall obstructions * temporary erection of obstacles near airfields (e.g., cranes) * passage of flocks of birds through airspace (a NOTAM in this category is known as a BIRDTAM) * notifications of runway/taxiway/apron status with respect to snow, ice, and standing water (a SNOWTAM) * notification of an operationally significant change in

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, created during volcano, volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used t ...

or other dust contamination (an ASHTAM) * software code risk announcements with associated patches to reduce specific vulnerabilities Aviation authorities typically exchange NOTAMs over

Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network The Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunications Network (AFTN) is a worldwide system of aeronautical fixed circuits provided, as part of the Aeronautical Fixed Service, for the exchange of messages and/or digital data between aeronautical fixed stations ...

(AFTN) circuits. Software is available to allow pilots to identify NOTAMs near their intended route or at the intended destination. Some complain that the volume and increasing triviality of NOTAMs has reduced their usefulness. In the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

information technology enterprise, C4 NOTAMs (command, control, communications, and computer notices to airmen) are notices of new or updated Air Force Network Operating Instructions (AFNOIs). Often, these notices serve to direct Air Force computer administrators to install security updates or change the configuration of computer systems.

Criticism

In July 2017,

Air Canada Flight 759 On July 7, 2017, an Airbus A320 family#A320, Airbus A320-211 operating as Air Canada Flight 759 was Near miss (safety), nearly involved in an Aviation accidents and incidents, accident at San Francisco International Airport in San Mateo County, ...

nearly crashed into four other airliners as it attempted to land on a

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

taxiway misidentified as a runway: the adjacent runway was closed but the information was buried in the NOTAM. As a consequence, in September 2018, from the findings during its investigation, the

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...

(NTSB) stated NOTAMs were unintelligible and ignored, and recommended a more effective information presentation for better relevance. NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt described NOTAMs as "a bunch of garbage that nobody pays any attention to". This led to an ICAO initiative to reform the NOTAM system.

Flight planning Flight planning is the process of producing a flight plan to describe a proposed aircraft flight. It involves two safety-critical aspects: fuel calculation, to ensure that the aircraft can safely reach the destination, and compliance with air t ...

applications for

electronic flight bag An electronic flight bag (EFB) is an electronic information management device that helps flight crews perform flight management tasks more easily and efficiently with less paper providing the reference material often found in the pilot's carry- ...

can help decipher and better organize NOTAMs.

Format

The following describes ICAO NOTAMs. NOTAMs are published using all upper case letters which are claimed by some to make NOTAMs difficult to read. Note that some countries such as the United States may diverge from the following ICAO standards. * The first line contains NOTAM identification (series, sequence number, and year of issue), the type of operation (NEW, REPLACE, or CANCEL), as well as a reference to a previously issued NOTAM (for NOTAMR and NOTAMC only). * The "Q" line holds information about who the NOTAM affects along with a basic NOTAM description. This line can be encoded/decoded from tables defined by

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...

. This allows NOTAMs to be displayed electronically * The "A" line is the ICAO code of the affected aerodrome or

FIR Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family (biology), family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North America, North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The ...

for the NOTAM. The area of influence of the NOTAM can be several hundreds of kilometres away from the originating aerodrome. * The "B" line contains the start date and time, the "C" line contains the finish date and time of the NOTAM. Fields "B" and "C" are in the format YYMMDDhhmm, with times given in Universal Co-ordinated Time; also known as UTC or Zulu time. * Sometimes a "D" line may be present. This gives a miscellaneous diurnal time for the NOTAM if the hours of effect are less than 24 hours a day, e.g.,

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

dropping exercises tend to occur for short periods of a few hours during the day, but may be repeated over many days. * The "E" line is the full NOTAM description. It is in English but can be heavily abbreviated. These abbreviations can be encoded/decoded by tables defined by

. * When present, "F" and "G" lines detail the height/altitude restrictions of the NOTAM. Typically SFC means surface height or ground level and UNL is unlimited height. Other heights are given in feet or

flight level In aviation and aviation meteorology, a flight level (FL) is an aircraft's altitude at standard air pressure, expressed in hundreds of feet. The air pressure is computed assuming an International Standard Atmosphere pressure of 1013.25 hPa ...

or a combination of the two.

Example

This is a typical NOTAM for

London Heathrow airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the Airports of London, London airport sys ...

A1234/06 NOTAMR A1212/06
Q)EGTT/QMXLC/IV/NBO/A/000/999/5129N00028W005
A)EGLL
B)0609050500
C)0704300500
E)DUE WIP TWY B SOUTH CLSD BTN 'F' AND 'R'. TWY 'R' CLSD BTN 'A' AND 'B' AND DIVERTED VIA NEW GREEN CL AND BLUE EDGE LGT. CTN ADZ

This decodes into the following: :Series and number: A1234 issued in 2006 (06) :Nature of the NOTAM: Replacing (R) NOTAM 1212 issued in 2006 (06) :

: London FIR (EGTT) : Subject: Taxiway (MX) : Condition: Closed (LC) : Traffic: NOTAM issued for

IFR In aviation, instrument flight rules (IFR) is one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other is visual flight rules (VFR). The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) ''Instrument Fly ...

(I) flights and VFR flights (V) : Purpose: NOTAM selected for immediate attention of flight crew members (N), for PIB entry (B), concerning flight operations (O) : Scope: Aerodrome (A) : Limits: FL 000 to FL 999 (000/999) : Geographical location: 51°29' N 000° 28' W (5129N00028W) : Operation radius of the NOTAM: 5 NM (005) : Aerodrome: London Heathrow (EGLL) : From: 05:00 UTC 5 September 2006 (060905 0500) : Until: 05:00 UTC 30 April 2007 (070430 0500) : Aerodromes, air routes, and ground aids : Description: Due to work in progress (DUE WIP), taxiway "B South" is closed between "F" and "R" (TWY B SOUTH CLSD BTN 'F' AND 'R'). Taxiway "R" is closed between "A" and "B" (TWY 'R' CLSD BTN 'A' AND 'B') and is diverted via a new green centre line and blue edge lighting (AND DIVERTED VIA NEW GREEN CL AND BLUE EDGE LGT). Caution advised (CTN ADZ).

U.S. domestic NOTAMs

In the United States, NOTAMs are classified by the

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

into five categories:AIM, 5–1–3 "Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) System" (August 22, 2013 revision) ;NOTAM (D) or distant NOTAMs :A NOTAM (D) information is disseminated for all navigational facilities that are part of the

National Airspace System The National Airspace System (NAS) is the airspace, navigation facilities and airports of the United States along with their associated information, services, rules, regulations, policies, procedures, personnel and equipment. It includes components ...

(NAS), all public use airports, seaplane bases, and

heliport A heliport is a small airport suitable for use by helicopters and some other vertical lift aircraft. Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff areas and may also have limited facilities such as fuel or hangars. I ...

s listed in the

Airport/Facility Directory The ''Airport/Facility Directory'' (abbreviated ''A/FD''), now identified as Chart Supplement in the U.S., is a pilot's manual that provides comprehensive information on airports, large and small, and other aviation facilities and procedures. Des ...

(A/FD) (e.g., such information as whether or not an airport or a certain facility is usable). NOTAM (D) information includes, among other topics, such data as taxiway closures, personnel and equipment near or crossing runways, and airport lighting aids that do not affect

instrument approach In aviation, an instrument approach or instrument approach procedure (IAP) is a series of predetermined maneuvers for the orderly transfer of an aircraft operating under instrument flight rules from the beginning of the initial approach to a landi ...

criteria, such as

VASI Vasi or VASI may refer to: * Visual Approach Slope Indicator, a system of lights on the side of an airport runway threshold *Vasi-vari or Wasi-wari language, a language spoken by the Wasi people in the Prasun Valley in Afghanistan Places *Vasi, Ir ...

. ;Flight Data Center (FDC) NOTAMs :The National Flight Data Center will issue these NOTAMs when it becomes necessary to disseminate information that is regulatory in nature, and they contain such things as amendments to published IAPs and other current

aeronautical chart An aeronautical chart is a map designed to assist in the navigation of aircraft, much as nautical chart A nautical chart is a graphic representation of a sea area and adjacent coastal regions. Depending on the scale of the chart, it may show ...

s. They are also used to advertise

s caused by such things as natural disasters or large-scale public events that may generate congestion of air traffic over a site. ;Pointer NOTAMs :NOTAMs issued by a flight service station to highlight or point out another NOTAM, such as an FDC or NOTAM (D) NOTAM. This type of NOTAM will assist users in cross-referencing important information that may not be found under an airport or NAVAID identifier. ;Special activity airspace (SAA) NOTAMs :SAA NOTAMs are issued when SAA (the term "SAA" includes SUA, as well as instrument and visual military training routes, aerial refueling tracks and anchorsFAA Order JO 7930.2N, Notices to Airmen (NOTAM)
effective 2013-10-01, accessed 2014-02-26) will be active outside the published schedule times and when required by the published schedule. ;Military NOTAMs :NOTAMs pertaining to U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine, and Navy

navigational aid Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

s/airports that are part of the NAS.

References

External links

ICAO Aviation Data Service - an API with access to NOTAMS from all 193 ICAO member states
(official site)
FAA NOTAM websiteFAA NOTAM website
(with search capability that also allows retrieval of Letters to Airmen)
DOD NOTAM websiteUS NOTAMS
*http://ead.dhmi.gov.tr/ Turkish NOTAM display and database
Learning the notices to airman -NOTAMLearning the notices to airman - D NOTAMAviation abbreviations and acronyms
{{DEFAULTSORT:Notam Air traffic control Aircraft operations Aviation publications