A NOTAM (Notice to Airmen,[1][2] Notice to Air Men,[3] Notice to Airman[4]or Notice to Air Missions[5]) is a notice filed with an aviation authority to alert aircraft pilots of potential hazards along a flight route or at a location that could affect the flight.[6] NOTAMs are notices or advisories that contain information concerning the establishment, conditions or change in any aeronautical facility, service, procedure or hazard, the timely knowledge of which may be essential to personnel and systems concerned with flight operations.[7]
NOTAMs are created and transmitted by government agencies and airport operators under guidelines specified by Annex 15: Aeronautical Information Services of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (CICA). A NOTAM is filed with an aviation authority to alert aircraft pilots of any hazards en route or at a specific location, or Flight Information Region. The authority, in turn, provides a means of disseminating relevant NOTAMs to pilots.
The acronym NOTAM came into common use following the ratification of the CICA, which came into effect on 4 April 1947,[citation needed] although early recorded use of the "Notice to Airmen" heading can be found in Flight International magazine in the UK.[8] Notices to airmen were normally published in a regular publication by each country's air authorities, as in the UK.
Several developments and amendments to the CICA have resulted in the more automated system available today. At some point in the past, the NOTAM system became web-aware.[9]
In July 2017, Air Canada Flight 759 nearly crashed into four other airliners as it attempted to land on a San Francisco taxiway misidentified as a runway: the adjacent runway was closed, but the information was buried in the NOTAM. As a consequence, in September 2018, from the findings during its investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) stated NOTAMs were unintelligible and ignored and recommended a more effective information presentation for better relevance. NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt described NOTAMs as "a bunch of garbage that nobody pays any attention to". This led to an initiative of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to reform the NOTAM system.[10]
In early 2014 Russia occupied Crimea and as part of the takeover Russia issued a newly-invented code, URFV to cover the Crimean airspace. The Ukrainian air controller has been subjugated to issue NOTAMs under the UKFV code, basically a verbatim repeater.[11][12] As a result all the UKFV NOTAMs advising about this area affix this note:[11]
DUE ACTIVITY PUBLISHED BY RUSSIAN FEDERATION. THE PUBLICATION BY RUSSIAN FEDERATION OF INFORMATION RELATED TO AIRSPACE UNDER RESPONSIBILITY OF UKRAINE DOES NOT COMPLY WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THE ICAO AIR NAVIGATION PLAN - EUROPEAN REGION (DOC 7754) AND THE ICAO ANNEXES 11 AND 15.
In the run-up to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Russian authorities closed large parts of the Black Sea, the Kerch Strait and almost the entire Sea of Azov "for missile and artillery live fire exercises." A spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry protested the Russian NOTAMs over this unprecedentedly large exercise area, which essentially obstructed international shipping and had economic consequences for Ukrainian ports such as Mariupol.[13]
NOTAMs are issued (and reported) for several reasons, such as:
Aviation authorities typically exchange NOTAMs over Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network (AFTN) circuits.
Software allows pilots to identify NOTAMs near their intended route or at the intended destination. Some complain that the volume and increasing triviality of NOTAMs has reduced their usefulness.[14]
In the U.S. Air Force information technology enterprise, C4 NOTAMs (command, control, communications, and computer notices to airmen) are notices of new or updated Air Force Network Operating Instructions (AFNOIs). Often, these notices serve to direct Air Force computer administrators to install security updates or change the configuration of computer systems.[15]
Flight planning applications for electronic flight bag can help decipher and better organize NOTAMs.[16]
The following describes ICAO NOTAMs. NOTAMs are published using all upper case letters. Some countries, such as the United States, may diverge from the following ICAO standards.
This is a typical NOTAM for London Heathrow airport:
A1234/06 NOTAMR A1212/06 Q)EGTT/QMXLC/IV/NBO/A/000/999/5129N00028W005 A)EGLL B)0609050500 C)0704300500 E)DUE WIP TWY B SOUTH CLSD BTN 'F' AND 'R'. TWY 'R' CLSD BTN 'A' AND 'B' AND DIVERTED VIA NEW GREEN CL AND BLUE EDGE LGT. CTN ADZ
This decodes into the following:
A1234 issued in 2006 (06)R) NOTAM A1212 issued in 2006 (06)EGTT)MX)LC)I) flights and VFR flights (V)N), for PIB (Pre-flight Information Bulletin) entry (B), concerning flight operations (O)A)000/999)5129N00028W)005)EGLL)060905 0500)070430 0500)DUE WIP), taxiway "B South" is closed between "F" and "R" (TWY B SOUTH CLSD BTN 'F' AND 'R'). Taxiway "R" is closed between "A" and "B" (TWY 'R' CLSD BTN 'A' AND 'B') and is diverted via a new green centre line and blue edge lighting (AND DIVERTED VIA NEW GREEN CL AND BLUE EDGE LGT). Caution advised (CTN ADZ).In the United States, NOTAMs are classified by the FAA into five categories:[17]
From left to right, U.S. NOTAMs contain the following elements:
| Keyword | Meaning |
|---|---|
| RWY | Runway |
| TWY | Taxiway |
| RAMP | Terminal ramp |
| APRON | Airport apron |
| AD | Aerodrome/Airport |
| OBST | Obstruction |
| NAV | Anything relating to navigational equipment, e.g. VOR or NDB being out of service. |
| COM | Any other communications, e.g. ATIS. |
| SVC | When tower, fuel, customs service hours are available. |
| AIRSPACE | The airspace surrounding the affect location. |
| U | Other aeronautical information, but unverified. |
| O | Other aeronautical information. |
These NOTAMS are likely to use FAA-specific abbreviations.
Tok Junction Airport has an unverified vehicle that is abandoned on its runway.
Los Angeles International's VOR is out of service.
There is an airshow being held at Oshkosh airport with aircraft flying 5,000 feet and below within a 5 nautical mile radius. Avoidance is advised from 2000 UTC on July 15, 2007, until 2200 on July 15, 2007.
On 11 January 2023, the US NOTAM system failed, which grounded all domestic flights until 9:00 AM EST (UTC-5) the same day.[19][20]