Notice to Airmen:
India recently issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) for a large-scale tri-services military exercise, “Ex Trishul,” to be conducted along the Pakistan border.
- Notice to Airmen, also known as Notice to Air Mission, 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.
- In short, a NOTAM is a notification from an official body alerting airspace users to hazards along their route, both in the air and on the ground.
- NOTAMs update pilots about changes in airspace, airports, and equipment that affect aircraft operations.
- NOTAMs are issued by national aviation 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.
- NOTAMs are typically accessible through online platforms, electronic flight planning tools, and aviation weather services, allowing pilots to conveniently access up-to-date information and make informed decisions regarding their flight activities.
- Pilots who do not review NOTAMs before flight put themselves (and others) in danger.
