Missed Notam

linuxjim

linuxjim

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Jul 8, 2014
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299
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Wilmette, IL
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Display name:
JJ
Ok. So I started another thread asking about what happens if someone screws up and busts a TFR. Here is the thread where I admit I screwed up on the same trip. I was flying VFR to a relatively close airport I regularly go to. Checked weather, TFRs, etc. Easy trip.

Me: Aiport Traffic, Bugsmasher 1234 10 North landing on some runway.
Airport Unicom: This is airport unicom the airport is NOTAM'd closed today. DO NOT LAND!

So embarrassed, ashamed and knowing I should've checked the NOTAM (And won't make that mistake again) I fly on to the next airport and ask my ride to come an extra 20 min out.

Maybe two minutes later, I'm over the airport, moving on to the next and over CTAF comes:

"Airport Traffic, Saratoga 1234 5 west, landing on some runway"

No wonder she sounded irritated saying "DO NOT LAND!" Guess I felt a little less embarrassed as the other guy followed me and landed just a couple minutes behind me at the alternate, but still not making that mistake again.
 
Didn't quite do the whole airport closed thing, but did arrive expecting to use the big runway only to find it torn up in little chunks with big Xs on it for construction.

Got me to read my notams again back then, and haven't missed it since. Consider it a learning experience...

Have also had them close enroute. Airplane wrecks. Been shut out of two airports for those over the years.
 
And then I've had a couple that had runways with portable Xs on them but no NOTAM.
 
denverpilot said:
Have also had them close enroute. Airplane wrecks.
Click to expand...

Had one of those happen to me on my long cross country for CPL. I had just spent about 7 hours in the air, was looking forward to dropping the aircraft off, driving home and going to bed.

Nope.

Enroute to KSPG I was told the airport was closed due to someone's gear collapsed and that they were bringing in a crane. Had to divert to KPIE and wait an hour then I called the airport and they told me the plane was gone and the runway was available.

Fired up the plane and called ATC and wanted to confirm again before takeoff that I'd be good to go. They were like "Uh, what happened ? We didn't hear about that". Spent 10 minutes in the plane just wasting gas and then got cleared to head back.

Didn't get home until after 10 PM (after starting my day around 8 AM). Long..long..LONG day..
 
I've flown to an airport where their fuel pump was out of service but not NOTAM'd. Little (faded, so it had been a while) paper sign on the credit card slot which read: "call this guy" so I did. Expecting "this guy" to tell me that he'd be there in a little while and fire up the fuel truck, "this guy" said, (and picture some hayseed with a toothpick in his mouth) "Yep, she's shore broke awe rite. You gonna havtuh fly overtuh (alternate airport) fore you can git some gas." I said, "did you ever think about putting this in the NOTAMs for the airport? Might save someone else who doesn't have the fuel to fly to (alternate airport) a whole lot of trouble." "Naw, ah don't deal wid dat stuff. Arport manager does zat." :mad2:
 
I was just out burning holes in the sky one day and was near an airport and thought for fun I would just shoot some landings there. Got in the pattern made my first call then noticed the big X and heavy equipment on the end of the runway. So just made the call that I see runway is closed and departing to the north. They have two runways there the other I think was open but I wasn't set up for it at that point didn't want to bother.
 
Anyone use 1800wxbrief.com web site? I think they do a good job of organizing the notams in their brief interface. Even if you don't want to file(for a short local thing), you can save flight plans in your 'favorites' and just click on one, enter a depart time, click generate brief and view notams there in a more organized format than what i've seen elsewhere. Lots of highlighting bold red for closures, etc. There is a separate tab for 'closed/unsafe notams'. I don't use foreflight so there may be better tools, but that web site is free and you can use it to file, activate, close plans as well, if you don't want to call the number.
 
Flew to KACJ a few weeks back. Checked the notams. It said runway xx closed from Zulu to Zulu. I would be arriving 2 hours after the time period. I was making a straight in for said runway. At about 800' I saw the X and trucks on the runway. Landed on the alternate runway. I asked at the FBO. What the hell? Answer. They didn't finish in time!
 
The NOTAM system is busted. You didn't check but I bet you had better than even odds of not getting the NOTAM if you'd gone through a traditional briefing. It was bad enough in the old AFSS days.
 
exncsurfer said:
Anyone use 1800wxbrief.com web site? I think they do a good job of organizing the notams in their brief interface. Even if you don't want to file(for a short local thing), you can save flight plans in your 'favorites' and just click on one, enter a depart time, click generate brief and view notams there in a more organized format than what i've seen elsewhere. Lots of highlighting bold red for closures, etc. There is a separate tab for 'closed/unsafe notams'. I don't use foreflight so there may be better tools, but that web site is free and you can use it to file, activate, close plans as well, if you don't want to call the number.
Click to expand...

Yeah. I call it a lot even when I've already filed. Ask for an update briefing and tell them what you want. I usually ask for TFR's, hot special use airspace and airport Notams. Some give you more than what you ask for, but it never takes more than just a couple minutes. If I havent filed and don't intend to I still ask for the same thing. So easy in the cell phone age.
 
I got burned similarly at an unattended country airport. I checked notams before I took off but missed the closed runway notams. I ended up landing, noting that there were construction trucks on one runway and people working. I fueled up and left, thinking nothing of it. When I got back home I checked again and sure enough there were notams, but whoever entered them didn't enter the correct runways. Add to that the fact that there were no Xs on the runways made it hard to figure out what was going on.

I ended up filing an ASRS report for that one, thankfully nothing ever came of it.
 
luvflyin said:
Yeah. I call it a lot even when I've already filed. Ask for an update briefing and tell them what you want. I usually ask for TFR's, hot special use airspace and airport Notams. Some give you more than what you ask for, but it never takes more than just a couple minutes. If I havent filed and don't intend to I still ask for the same thing. So easy in the cell phone age.
Click to expand...
Right, but have you used their web site as well? The brief interface is pretty useful I think. Looks like this:
Clipboard.png

You can see the LBT VOR is out of service even on the map view. For a kick, click on the obstructions tab, someone needs to get busy changing light-bulbs. upload_2016-7-12_15-18-27.png
 
In Alaska I went out to check on a persons private strip. He had asked us to look at it for possible future use of hauling in passengers for his lodge.

I took verbal directions, flew out there in a C-206, saw a big open area close to a few log buildings, and landed. A few guys came running to the plane, asking if I had a problem with the plane. No, just checking out the landing strip. What landing strip?, they asked. Is this the landing strip for Larrys Lodge? No, we just cleared the land to build another cabin here, Larrys is about two miles that way next to the river..... :oops::confused:
 
Took wifey on an x/c overnight to KIZA once. No relevant Notams. The next morning, go to depart, suddenly: new Notam. Rwy closed for planned maintenance, will open later at 1430 local. Uhh, what planned maintenance? Thankfully, there's a casino down the street to burn time. :D
 
One night I departed an airport, read the notams before hand and the main runway was to be closed until morning due to construction at the north end. Had I not read the notam, I would have taken off from that runway, which is the longest and the wind favored it. No mention of it on the AWOS, no notice posted at the FBO.. nothing. You couldnt even see the people working, their lights just blended in with the rest of airport lights.
 
flyingron said:
The NOTAM system is busted. You didn't check but I bet you had better than even odds of not getting the NOTAM if you'd gone through a traditional briefing. It was bad enough in the old AFSS days.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Sorting through so many categories
exncsurfer said:
Right, but have you used their web site as well? The brief interface is pretty useful I think. Looks like this:
View attachment 46380

You can see the LBT VOR is out of service even on the map view. For a kick, click on the obstructions tab, someone needs to get busy changing light-bulbs. View attachment 46381
Click to expand...

I haven't. What's the address?
 
The whole briefing system is busted. Well, it is designed to produce failure. Feed large volumes of info to pilots and see if they can find the needle in the haystack, the one gotcha among reams of useless info. Discussed here in May.
Somehow, there needs to be a prioritization of info. Closed airports and runways as in your situation would be a good one to be presented at the top or in bold, or with flashing text.

Someone posted about the Procedure NA at Night note on the 5C1 gps approach. I just briefed a flight from Austin to Boerne and got the FF briefing below; 32 pages of text but not what I needed! Absolute scads of info but if the wind is howling out of the north, a person is going to get there and find out they can't complete the flight.... unless they had also read the approach plate details! (it is 5am and the flight would be completed completely at night).

Yes, we know it is our responsibility to read all these things and yes we know the info is out there, but we are going to continue to have posts of how people ran into these problems until it is made a little easier.
 

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I like the warnings about flying in North Korea.
 
You have to be prepared for any eventuality, including an unplanned diversion to NK.
 
I don't have enough gas tanks to get there. I have only two.

You have five, and those are only the ones you tell me about. So, it's a consideration...
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
The whole briefing system is busted. Well, it is designed to produce failure. Feed large volumes of info to pilots and see if they can find the needle in the haystack, the one gotcha among reams of useless info. Discussed here in May.
Somehow, there needs to be a prioritization of info. Closed airports and runways as in your situation would be a good one to be presented at the top or in bold, or with flashing text.

Someone posted about the Procedure NA at Night note on the 5C1 gps approach. I just briefed a flight from Austin to Boerne and got the FF briefing below; 32 pages of text but not what I needed! Absolute scads of info but if the wind is howling out of the north, a person is going to get there and find out they can't complete the flight.... unless they had also read the approach plate details! (it is 5am and the flight would be completed completely at night).

Yes, we know it is our responsibility to read all these things and yes we know the info is out there, but we are going to continue to have posts of how people ran into these problems until it is made a little easier.
Click to expand...
1800wxbrief.com does attempt to organize and prioritize them, still, there are tons of notams to wade through. There is a separate tab for 'adverse conditions' and on that tab a sub-tab for closed/unsafe notams. I'm not sure how good it is at flagging, does anyone know of a closed RW or something I could put in as a destination and see if it Bold red flags it?
 
exncsurfer said:
1800wxbrief.com does attempt to organize and prioritize them, still, there are tons of notams to wade through. There is a separate tab for 'adverse conditions' and on that tab a sub-tab for closed/unsafe notams. I'm not sure how good it is at flagging, does anyone know of a closed RW or something I could put in as a destination and see if it Bold red flags it?
Click to expand...
I'll reply to myself, so I found an example of a closed runway. It did pull it into the Adverse Conditions tab, its not bold or red but i'd say being on that tab is emphasis enough. Its also on the regular notams tab under destination, organized by various categories there. Not perfect but I think its better than a dumped list of notams. Pictures:
upload_2016-7-13_9-50-6.png

notam tab view:
upload_2016-7-13_9-52-27.png
 
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