Sport Pilot Talk

This is the most bizarre announcement that I've ever seen, which compromises safety of all types of aircraft... over multiple states for an entire MONTH!

Dear ForeFlight Customer,

We want to make you aware of the following late breaking NOTAMs that have been issued due to military activities that may affect ADS-B traffic service over Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida beginning 1:00 am EDT September 2, 2015 until midnight EDT October 1, 2015.

The NOTAM numbers are as follows:

5/2817 New York Center (ZNY)
5/2818 Washington Center (ZDC)
5/2819 Jacksonville Center (ZJX)
5/2820 Miami Center (ZMA)
5/2834 NY Oceanic (ZWY)

For reference, here is the text from the ZNY NOTAM:

A0369/15 (FDC 5/2817) - SPECIAL NOTICE...DUE TO MILITARY ACTIVITIES ON 1030/1090 MHZ, THE TRAFFIC ALERT AND COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEM (TCAS) AND AUTOMATIC DEPENDENT SYSTEM BROADCAST (ADS-B) SURVEILLANCE MAY BE UNRELIABLE IN THE AIRSPACE OVER THE STATES OF VIRGINIA, NORTH CAROLINA, SOUTH CAROLINA, GEORGIA, AND FLORIDA, AND EXTENDING APPROXIMATELY 200NM OFFSHORE. PILOTS ARE ADVISED THAT THE TRAFFIC ALERT AND COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEM (TCAS) MAY FAIL TO ESTABLISH TRACKS ON NEARBY AIRCRAFT AND MAY FAIL TO RECEIVE TRAFFIC ALERTS (TA) AND/OR RESOLUTION ADVISORIES (RA). FURTHER, PILOTS ARE ADVISED THAT TRACKS MAY FIRST APPEAR WITHIN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THEIR AIRCRAFT AND MAY IMMEDIATELY GO INTO TA/RA STATUS. FALSE ALERTS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE GENERATED BY THIS MILITARY ACTIVITY AND ANY ALERTS SHALL BE TREATED AS REAL. PILOTS ARE ADVISED TO MAINTAIN AN INCREASED VISUAL AWARENESS IN THIS AREA. IF THE PILOT BELIEVES THAT AN AIRCRAFT SHOULD HAVE TRIGGERED AN ALERT, THE INCIDENCE SHOULD BE REPORTED TO AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL AT THE EARLIEST OPPORTUNE MOMENT. SFC - FL500, 02 SEP 05:00 2015 UNTIL 01 OCT 04:59 2015. CREATED: 01 SEP 15:13 2015

To view each of these NOTAMs, visit the FAA NOTAM lookup website.

As always, we are on frequency at [email protected] to assist.

—Team ForeFlight

"... PILOTS ARE ADVISED TO MAINTAIN AN INCREASED VISUAL AWARENESS IN THIS AREA."

Good luck with increased visual awareness... spotting F-16s at high speed, in haze and when the sun is in your face over five states... including Florida which has the most dense air traffic that I've ever seen!

Haven't we had enough mid-air collisions recently?
In July an F- 16 collided with a Cessna in South Carolina.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/07/us/south- ... -incident/

Or is this NOTAM some kind of new "liability waiver" resulting from the same?

It really *is* bizarre. They are doing some weird cloak and dagger military operation that is going to potentially disable all aircraft traffic alert systems, across FIVE STATES, for an ENTIRE MONTH...????

Just...wow.

The next thing they'll say is:
"GPS & VOR may not be reliable. Please plan all flights by pilotage and dead-reckoning... including increased visual awareness."

Yeah, when I got that notice, my first action was to resolve not to fly over those states for a month.

drseti wrote:Yeah, when I got that notice, my first action was to resolve not to fly over those states for a month.

Based here in Georgia, I guess I either have to brave the more dangerous skies or stay on the ground.

That FAA NOTAM is completely unrealistic and compromises the safety of all aircraft, pilots, passengers and military personnel. #FAIL

designrs wrote:That FAA NOTAM is completely unrealistic and compromises the safety of all aircraft, pilots, passengers and military personnel. #FAIL

Actually the NOTAM does the opposite, because it alerts pilots to the potential problem.

I thought of that... and I'm not buying that perspective... whatever the problem is, it is just wrong! Possibly unreliable traffic safety systems (multiple) over FIVE states for a MONTH! #FAIL

MrMorden wrote:or stay on the ground.

Which, of course, is not an option.

You know the old saying, don't blame the messenger.

I run a small airport, and we don't close the runway because the NOTAM says it is closed. We close the runway, because it needs to be closed for some reason. The NOTAM is simply there to let pilots know what is going on.

My take on this is that we need a senator or representative with some clout to hold whoever did this accountable.

Congress is probably who did this, Jim. Foxes guarding the chicken coop.

Jim Stewart wrote:. . . "My take on this is that we need a senator or representative with some clout to hold whoever did this accountable." . . .

Hold on there Jim . . . Trump has not been elected yet. . . .

Flocker wrote:

MrMorden wrote:or stay on the ground.

Which, of course, is not an option.

Certainly not a good one!

In reality, this *probably* won't cause any issues. But the potential is there. It just seems a wide area and a long time period to be messing around on TCAS and ADS-B freqs.