NOTAM

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NOTAM ( No tice (s) t o A ir m s), arrangements and information about temporary or permanent changes in the Aeronautical Information Publication ( AIP ) that are important for an orderly, safe and smooth air traffic.

The German translation for Notice (s) to Airmen ("Message (s) an Luftfahrer") is completely uncommon and is likely to be confused with the German legal notices Nachrichten für Luftfahrer (NfL), in which publications by the federal, state and German air traffic control authorities (DFS) are included.

NOTAMs contain short-term or urgent orders, procedures and information that are of (special) interest as supplementary information for the implementation of a flight and do not necessarily require changing the AIP, especially since changes to the AIP are often distributed by post and thus take time . NOTAMs are distributed via the Fixed Airline Telecommunications Network (AFTN).

Orders and information that are disseminated in a NOTAM are messages about the construction, condition or change of any aviation facilities, services, procedures or about dangers, the timely knowledge of which is essential for the aviation personnel concerned.

A NOTAM only deals with one topic and its conditions and should be valid for a maximum of three months. If it is valid for more than three months, it is automatically included in the AIP Aviation Manual.

Temporary changes

NOTAM are basically only short-term changes to the AIP. Sometimes, however, it cannot be guaranteed that the AIP will be changed or supplemented. In this case, in addition to short-term changes, permanent changes to the AIP and changes that require a detailed written explanation can be issued as NOTAM. Then a NOTAM can be valid for more than 3 months.

The responsible pilot in command , as part of his pre-flight planning to make the duty Before flight use any available documents familiar. This also includes the current NOTAMs that concern his flight. These are the NOTAMs that relate to his departure airport, his destination airport and, if necessary and desired, his alternate flight plan (s) and information about his flight route.

Content of NOTAM

For airlines, the NOTAMs are compiled in the NOTAM Briefing Package and sorted according to:

  • Departure NOTAM (take-off airport)
  • Enroute NOTAM (flight route)
  • Alternate-NOTAM ( alternate airport )
  • Destination-NOTAM (destination airport)
  • Company-NOTAM (NOTAMs that only apply to the airline)

NOTAMs are issued for a range of aviation hazards and problems.

For example for:

  • Condition of the airfields
  • Activation times of restricted flight areas
  • temporary erection of obstacles near airfields (e.g. crane)
  • Dangers such as B. Air shows , parachute jumps or weather balloon launches
  • Flights from important people, such as B. Heads of State
  • Temporarily closed runways
  • temporarily non-functioning radio navigation systems (VOR, NDB, ILS)
  • Military exercises with the resulting airspace restrictions
  • not working warning lights on high obstacles
  • Failure of navigation systems

Development of a NOTAM

An original NOTAM, which is published and distributed by a NOTAM office, always has the following format:

example

  1. A0623 / 13 NOTAMN

  3. Q) EGXX / QRDCY / IV / NBO / W / 000/400 / 5510N00520W050

  5. A) EGTT / EGPX
  6. B) 1304030730
  7. C) 1304281500
  8. D) APR 03 07 12 21 24 AND 28 0730 TO 1500
  9. E) DANGER AREA DXX IS ACTIVE
  10. F) GND
  11. G) 12200M (40000FT.) MSL.)

Explanation:

First line
NOTAM series, NOTAM number / year
Third line
Affected FIR / Q-Code of NOTAM / affected flight rules ( IFR / VFR ) / purpose / scope / lower limit / upper limit / coordinates possibly with radius information
Fifth line
ICAO code of the FIR or the airport
Sixth line
Ten-digit date-time group, start of validity, format: YYMMDDHHMM
Seventh line
Ten-digit date-time group, end of validity, format: YYMMDDHHMM; or PERM for permanent validity. If the duration of the NOTAM is not known, this is accomplished by appending the group EST displayed
Eighth line
Specified validity statement
Ninth line
NOTAM in plain text, ICAO abbreviations are used where appropriate
Tenth and eleventh lines
Lower and upper limit of the NOTAM, these lines are normally only available for navigation warnings

Meaning of the example NOTAM

  1. NOTAM series A, number 0623 from 2013, new NOTAM
  3. a) More than one FIR affected / b) Danger area was activated / c) Affects IFR and VFR / d) For immediate attention for aircraft operators, important for pre-flight information and operationally important for IFR flights / e) Navigational warning / f) Ground / g ) 40000ft / h) Center point at N5510, W00520, radius 50 NM
    1. a) FIR-ICAO identification
    2. b) Q code
    3. c) I = IFR, V = VFR, IV = IFR / VFR
    4. d) N = for immediate attention for aircraft operators, B = important for pre-flight information bulletins, O = operationally important for IFR flights, M = miscellaneous
    5. e) scope; A = Aerodrome, E = Enroute, W = Navigational warning
    6. f) Lower limit
    7. g) Upper limit
    8. h) coordinates
  4. ICAO location designation for Scottish and London FIR / UIR
  5. Starts 2013, 4th month, 3rd day, 07:30 UTC
  6. Ends 2013, 4th month, 28th day, 15:00 UTC
  7. Hazardous area only active in the 4th month, on days 03, 07, 12, 21, 24 and 28 between 07:30 and 15:00 UTC
  8. DANGER AREA DXX IS ACTIVE
  9. Lower limit on the ground
  10. Upper limit at 12200m (40000 ft) MSL

To make it easier to understand and (mostly) to shorten the length of a NOTAM, these are rewritten and preselected by the NOTAM office of the German Air Traffic Control . However, these rewritten NOTAMs are often difficult to read for inexperienced users due to the many abbreviations they use, and there is also a risk that they could lead to errors. Accordingly, flight dispatchers, for example, often use original NOTAMs.

NOTAM coding

The Q-Code of an original NOTAM is an important aid for evaluating existing NOTAM, for example to automatically determine the relevance for cockpit crews. The Q-code is always on the third line. In order to get a basic statement about the content of a NOTAM, the second group of the Q-code is primarily important, in the above example the QRDCA . The first letter of this group only indicates the beginning of the relevant code, so it is always the same. The second and third letters always refer to the institution or thing concerned . The fourth and fifth letters relate to the condition of the facility coded in letters two and three. QRDCA stands for:

QRDCA
Q code Introduction R estrictions Category D anger area thing C hange Category A ctivated clarified

The two-letter codes are not directly indicative of their meaning. In general, the second letter indicates a category of things, the third letter specifies a thing within this category.

Further examples

QMXLC
M ovement Area Category R unway thing L imitation Category C losed specified
QPICH
P rocedures Category I instrument approach procedure thing C hange Category C h is clarified
QFFAU
F acilites F ire fighting and Rescue A viability U Not Available
QILAS
I nstrument landing System L ocalizer A viability Un s erviceable

International regulations

The International Aeronautical Information Services are regulated in the Agreement on International Civil Aviation . The guidelines for NOTAM are listed in Annex 15 (Annex 15). NOTAMs are created and distributed by state aviation authorities to warn pilots of any dangers on the routes or at the respective locations.

In Europe, the ECAC states submit national and short-term changes or restrictions to their airspace in the form of NOTAMs to the EAD ( European AIS Database ). EAD is a central reference database for aviation information. Outside the ECAC countries, EAD obtains all of its worldwide NOTAMs via AFTN (Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network) . The NOTAMs are automatically processed in the reference database, checked for plausibility and constantly updated. A worldwide NOTAM database is made available to the users of the EAD.

Germany

In Germany, the Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS) is connected to the EAD and provides the national NOTAM data for the EAD. At the same time, DFS obtains the international data held by the EAD.

The national NOTAM office of DFS provides users of aeronautical data (airlines, pilots, etc.) with the NOTAM in English. NOTAM can also be accessed or subscribed to depending on the route, destination and alternative airport.

There are also military NOTAMs for which the Air Operations Center in Frankfurt-Hausen is responsible.

Special forms

Special forms of NOTAM are:

  • SNOWTAM, informs about the evacuation or the endangerment of / by snow, ice, mud or water on the movement areas
  • BIRDTAM, warns areas and airfields with acute, increased bird strike . Permanent dangers from bird strikes, however, are published in the Aviation Manual (AIP). In contrast to NOTAM, BIRDTAM are not standardized by ICAO but by NATO and are mainly used in the military environment. ICAO and EUROCONTROL provide for information on flocks of birds using the NOTAM code "HX" (Traffic "IV", Scope "A", Purpose "B").
  • ASHTAM, warns of volcanic activities , volcanic eruptions and volcanic ash clouds if they are of importance for aviation

United States

In the USA, the pilot receives the relevant NOTAM - while he is submitting his flight plan - from the regional flight service stations . There is also software that allows the pilot to identify the NOTAMs surrounding his intended route and destination.

Examples

A large number of abbreviations are usually used in NOTAM ( list of abbreviations in aviation ).

1st example

LSAZ / ZURICH AREA A0195 03MAY21 LSAZ 04JUL210730 04DEZ311159 PERM GPS SIGNAL UNREL FOR NAV WI SWITZERLAND S OF 4605N (S OF MONTE CENERI) GND FL150

That means in plain language:

LSAZ / ZURICH AREA - - - Validity within the FIR ; Locarno Airport
A0195 - - - Number of the publication
03MAY21 - - - Date of publication (May 21, 2003)
A) LSAZ - - - Area of ​​validity within an FIR or an airport (Locarno airport)
B) 04JUL210730 - - - Beginning of the validity of the NOTAM (July 21, 2004; 7:30 UTC )
C) 04DEZ311159 - - - End of validity of NOTAM (December 31, 2004; 11:59 UTC)
D) PERM - - - Duration of validity (permanent) - it could also read: Mon – Fri 8: 00–12: 00
E) GPS SIGNAL UNREL FOR NAV WI SWITZERLAND S OF 4605N (S OF MONTE CENERI) - - - Type of information
GPS signal unreliable for navigation within Switzerland South of 46 ° 05 'N (south of Monte Ceneri )
German: GPS signal unreliable for navigation in Switzerland south of the latitude 46 ° 05 'N
F) GND - - - lower limit (ground)
G) FL150 - - - Upper limit ( flight level 150)

Example 2 to 7 are military NOTAMs of the US Army in Germany for their pilots (Army Flight Operations)
Hohenfels Hospital AHP: nil - - - nil stands for "nothing is listed" (no NOTAM message available)

2nd example

AREA 3 - grids 'ND, NE, PD, PE': nd9431 (east of celle) 8 nm rad 500ft-2000ft amsl , helicopter workout procedures, non-participating mil ACFT avoid area. nov24 - dec01 dly 0700-1600 exc sat sun. (m2498) (NOTAM of the US Army for Germany)

Explanation: rad - radius; amsl - above mean sea level - above sea level; acft - aircraft - plane; dly - daily - daily; exc - except - except

3rd example

ne6734 (hamburg city) 493ft agl; captive balloon, night marked, permanent, daily sr-2200. (f4815)

Explanation: captive balloon; sr - sunrise - sunrise

4th example

AREA 6 - grids 'NB, NC, PB, PC'; pc1140 (brocken mountain) 2nm wheel sfc / 5000ft agl; overflying strictly proh by all mil acft, exc sar flts dly h24. (m132)

Explanation: rad - radius; sfc - surface - floor surface; agl - above the ground; proh - prohibited; acft - aircraft; exc - except - except: sar - search and rescue - SAR - rescue flights; dly - daily - daily

5th example

lv8694 (kristen dz) 2nm wheel 5000ft agl; pje and drop of heavy eqpt nov 28-29 dly 1430-1930, mil flying proh. (m2342)

Explanation: pje - parachute jumping exercise - parachute jumps; eqpt - equipment - equipment; proh - prohibited - forbidden;

6th example

a7411 (hosp jugenheim) 1km bike sfc / 1000ft gnd; ovft strictly proh. (m130)

Explanation: hosp - hospital - hospital; ovft - overflight

7th example

COM: B) 04/01/08 08:03 UTC C) 04/01/16 15:00 UTC (B0014 / 04); A) LOXT; E) TULLN LANGENLEBARN APP FREQ 136,700MHZ AND FREQ 121,500MHZ NOT AVBL. REF AIP AUSTRIA AD 2.2

Explanation: AVBL - available - available

Others

For seafarers, the messages for seafarers are published in a slightly different form .

In the railway sector, the list of temporary speed limits and other special features is published.

literature

  • Lufthansa Flight Training - International Air Traffic Regulations and Procedures , Bre OS1 / A (2002)
  • Jeppesen - Airway Manual Text

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ International NOTAM Q-Codes Complete list of the meanings of the abbreviations, accessed October 2, 2018
  2. ↑ NATO STANAG No. 3879: Birdstrike Risk / Warning Procedures (Europe), Version 7.0, 9/1998
  3. ↑ ICAO Doc 8126: Aeronautical Information Services Manual, Version 6, 2003
  4. ↑ EUROCONTROL: Operating Procedures for AIS Dynamic Data (OPADD), Version 3.0, 4/2009
  5. ↑ What Is An Ashtam? ( January 20, 2011 memento on the Internet Archive ) - Information about ASHTAMs at www.ashtam.co.uk, Retrieved March 17, 2011