Digital information management is key to meeting NextGen’s safety and efficiency objectives, according to FAA officials, who report the agency is transitioning to digital flight operations information and the modernization of Notices to Airmen.
Notices to Airmen, or NOTAMs, provide timely information about hazards and changes in aeronautical facilities, services and procedures in paper format. This system involves manual validation and coordination with multiple sources, FAA officials note.
By replacing paper reporting, digital NOTAMs should reduce human error; allow more timely and accurate distribution of information; standardize content, policy and procedures; and balance diverse customer needs, officials said.
The FAA will begin to test digital distribution of NOTAMs to air traffic control facilities in January. The test sites are: Southern California TRACON, Denver Airport Traffic Control Tower (ATCT), Amarillo ATCT, Tallahassee ATCT, Las Vegas ATCT and Boise ATCT.
For more information: FAA.gov
The problem is Jerry, Notams have to meet certain criteria and in a standard format in accordance with prescribed procedures. Joe the Airport Manager may not have the training or expertise to do this. That is why professionals issue Notams.
Historically, the timeliness of NOTAM issuance has been comprimised by using flight service as the conduit for the issuance of NOTAMs. This, in essence, slows the issuance process by acting as a funnel for each individual NOTAM to channel out into the National NOTAM System.
In today’s computerized world, individual airports have the capability to enter NOTAM data directly to the National Flight Data Center, bypassing flight service and increasing the timliness of NOTAM issuance.
This is particularly critical during major snowstorms where airfield condition information is typically outdated by the time it is distributed over the NOTAM network.
Jerry Miller
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