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- Mar 11, 2017
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Last week, after performing some maintenance on my plane, my buddy and I were going to take a test hop to make sure everything was ok. Just after completing the preflight, a NOTAM popped up on his I pad.... Foreflight..... saying the runway was closed at the field. There was no mention of it on the AWOS, and even the FAA NOTAM webpage didn't show it. The reason for the closure was that there was a vehicle running up and down the runway doing a surface survey for an upcoming refinishing project.
Now, the FAA webpage does say, and I quote:
This site is informational in nature and is designed to assist pilots and aircrews for flight planning and familiarization.It may be used in conjunction with other pre-flight information sources needed to satisfy all the requirements of 14 CFR 91.103 and is not to be considered as a sole source of information to meet all pre-flight action.
Due to system processing delays, recently entered NOTAMs may not be displayed. (Underlined is my emphasis)
So, given the disclaimer and the statement that recently entered NOTAMS might not be displayed, where does one find accurate and up to date NOTAMs? As we were leaving the field, I saw a pipeline patrol airplane at the fuel pumps who had just landed. I asked the pilot if the guy in the vehicle said anything to him, and he said no. He just landed long to avoid the vehicle. And he had no idea about the NOTAM till he landed and it popped up on Foreflight as he was taxiing.
Shouldn't this valuable bit of info been added to the AWOS? I've heard lots of times things added after the WX portion, stuff like "Fuel pumps out of service" If a NOTAM has been issued, and is not on the AWOS, or cannot be retrieved, can a pilot be responsible for violation?
One last interesting bit, on the FAA website, if you do an archived search, it does come up. It just was not displayed when it was in effect..... or at least not when its effective time started.
I'd like to know if anyone else has encountered a similar issue.
Now, the FAA webpage does say, and I quote:
This site is informational in nature and is designed to assist pilots and aircrews for flight planning and familiarization.It may be used in conjunction with other pre-flight information sources needed to satisfy all the requirements of 14 CFR 91.103 and is not to be considered as a sole source of information to meet all pre-flight action.
Due to system processing delays, recently entered NOTAMs may not be displayed. (Underlined is my emphasis)
So, given the disclaimer and the statement that recently entered NOTAMS might not be displayed, where does one find accurate and up to date NOTAMs? As we were leaving the field, I saw a pipeline patrol airplane at the fuel pumps who had just landed. I asked the pilot if the guy in the vehicle said anything to him, and he said no. He just landed long to avoid the vehicle. And he had no idea about the NOTAM till he landed and it popped up on Foreflight as he was taxiing.
Shouldn't this valuable bit of info been added to the AWOS? I've heard lots of times things added after the WX portion, stuff like "Fuel pumps out of service" If a NOTAM has been issued, and is not on the AWOS, or cannot be retrieved, can a pilot be responsible for violation?
One last interesting bit, on the FAA website, if you do an archived search, it does come up. It just was not displayed when it was in effect..... or at least not when its effective time started.
I'd like to know if anyone else has encountered a similar issue.
