content_image/528533.jpg
<img src='content_image/528533.jpg'>

## Pilot and Aeronautical Information 

## Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) 

Notices to Airmen, or NOTAMs, are time-critical aeronautical information either temporary in nature or not sufficiently known in advance to permit publication on aeronautical charts or in other operational publications. The information receives immediate dissemination via the National Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) System. NOTAMs contain current notices to airmen that are considered essential to the safety of flight, as well as supplemental data affecting other operational publications. There are many different reasons that NOTAMs are issued. Following are some of those reasons: 

• Hazards, such as air shows, parachute jumps, kite flying, and rocket launches 

• Flights by important people such as heads of state 

• Closed runways 

• Inoperable radio navigational aids 

• Military exercises with resulting airspace restrictions 

• Inoperable lights on tall obstructions 

• Temporary erection of obstacles near airfields 

• 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 or other dust contamination (an ASHTAM) 

• Software code risk announcements with associated patches to reduce specific vulnerabilities 

NOTAM information is generally classified into four categories: NOTAM (D) or NOTAMs that receive distant dissemination, distant and Flight Data Center (FDC) NOTAMs, Pointer NOTAMs, and Military NOTAMs pertaining to military airports or NAVAIDs that are part of the NAS. NOTAMs are available through Flight Service Station (FSS), Direct User Access Terminal Service (DUATS), private vendors, and many online websites. 

## NOTAM (D) Information 

NOTAM (D) information is disseminated for all navigational facilities that are part of the NAS, and all public use airports, seaplane bases, and heliports listed in the Chart Supplement U.S. (formerly Airport/Facility Directory). NOTAM (D) information now includes such data as taxiway closures, personnel and equipment near or crossing runways, and airport lighting aids that do not affect instrument approach criteria, such as visual approach slope indicator (VASI). All D NOTAMs are required to have one of the following keywords as the first part of the text: RWY, TWY, RAMP, APRON, AD, OBST, NAV, COM, SVC, AIRSPACE, (U), or (O).  [Figure 1-19] 

