NOTAMs

A NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) is a short notice about the establishment, condition, or a change in any aeronautical facility, service, procedure, or hazard when the timely knowledge of it matters to flight (TC AIM MAP 3.1). It carries temporary or short-notice information, not permanent facts.

What shows up as a NOTAM (TC AIM MAP 3.6):

• a closed runway or aerodrome change
• an unserviceable navaid or runway lighting
• a new obstacle (a crane)
• activation of a restricted, danger, or advisory area
• a planned laser display that could impair night vision
• a forest-fire flight restriction

Permanent facts (field elevation, runway length) live in the CFS; magnetic variation is on the chart; current weather is a METAR/TAF. None of these is a NOTAM.

Issue types (TC AIM MAP 3.3): NOTAMN new, NOTAMR replacing an earlier one, NOTAMC cancelling one.

The pilot-in-command must be familiar with all available information appropriate to the flight before departure, which includes NOTAMs (CAR 602.71).

Trap: a NOTAM announces temporary changes; permanent data (elevation, runway length) is CFS/chart, and current weather is a METAR/TAF, never a NOTAM.

Practice