5 ms·
Its a flight planning mystery. Lets say you are not flying to, but flying by, my hometown airport. You decide arbitrarily to use it as a divert in case of awf
by VLM 4y ago
Its a flight planning mystery.
Lets say you are not flying to, but flying by, my hometown airport. You decide arbitrarily to use it as a divert in case of awful weather or engine trouble enroute or you just want a bathroom break (this is more of a Cessna 172 airport than a 747 airport)
I found a cached list of nine current NOTAMs for my home airport. Because its always better to overinform than to underinform, until the system overloads and crashes:
A long ramble that boils down to you can't use one of the IFR plates for a helicopter approach because of (its a very long story but relates to the crane mentioned below)
The modulation level on the closest VOR for identification/verification is low, although in legal tolerance, so you can use it but please stop trying to open the equivalent of a trouble ticket. We know the volume is both technically legal although low and not "turned up all the way". The techs say its safe until new parts arrive.
There's three failed tower lights in the area (three? Supply chain problems? Labor problems? WTF?) and one temporary crane obstruction. The crane is flagged and lit, and could theoretically be 60 ft AGL which is normally below the legal limit but its on airport grounds 0.13 miles away from one runway off to the side, so please try not to hit it. Also please don't bother reporting a crane off to the side of the approach; we know all about it...
Clearance delivery for the "big city" airport nearby has a remote trans/rec site nearby that's broken. Legal coverage is adequate (kind of a RAID array of retrans sites) so please stop reporting the reduced signal strength, we already know.
There's some kind of flood on runway 10 when it very heavily rains; the groundskeepers will fix the drainage problem; the NWS reports 0% chance of rain today so it probably won't be an issue, but don't act all surprised. This is not a NOTAM for groundskeeper work, that would be a separate new NOTAM.
- briandear 4y agoNailed it exactly. Also be advised that birds are in the vicinity of the airport.
- psim1 4y agoOne of our local muni airports adjacent woods always has a NOTAM advising of potential for deer on the runway.
- spookthesunset 4y agoBe advised somebody is mowing the grass near the baggage terminal.
- someguydave 4y agoIs someone who is planning multiple divert airports seriously expected to retain all of that information and recall it in the case of an emergency? Seems like 10% of that info might be kinda useful to know and 90% of it is “BY FLYING IN OUR DIRECTION YOU AGREED TO ACCEPT …”
- cjrp 4y agoNot retain it, you probably have a copy with you which you would read if you did end up diverting somewhere. NOTAMs also affect which airports go in your "would divert to" list when you're planning the flight. E.g. if the NOTAMs say AirportA's lights are unserviceable, you wouldn't plan it as a diversion airport for your night flight.
- someguydave 4y agoSeems to me like “I am in a sudden aircraft emergency” is not the best time for a pilot to begin reading dry material.
- cjrp 4y agoThere are many reasons to divert, not all of them big emergencies. Weather at your destination is worse than forecast, for example.
- ceejayoz 4y agoYou're expected to have the information with you. Having read it before flight also increase the chance that it jogs your memory; "closest airport is CVG, didn't I see something... ah, yes, nuked last week, let's go to Columbus".
- VLM 4y agoIf I were a helicopter in IFR conditions and I just need a gas stop, I've never landed here, I'd forget about it, there's five heliports within 20 miles that have absolute zero drama. Legally technically the heliport is open but why risk it? If I were shooting an IFR approach for currency in perfectly clear air, or with an instructor and its midday and cloudless right now, sure, have some good training. If the engine's on fire, well, your odds are vastly better trying to land than trying to fly 20 miles away. If you're 600 feet off course and below 60 feet AGL you're probably going to crash anyway so don't worry about a crane. They just have a crane onsite fixing some things, its not like the airport is closed just don't be surprised seeing some extra flashing lights and flags.