What are NOTAMs and how should you use them in flight planning?

• A. Notices to Airmen about temporary changes or hazards affecting airports, routes, or navigation aids; check them during planning and en route.
• B. Notices to pilots about marketing.
• C. Regulatory letters not used by pilots.
• D. They are weather forecasts.

Answer: (A)

NOTAMs are notices to airmen about temporary changes or hazards that could affect airports, routes, or navigation aids. They alert you to things like runway closures, taxiway restrictions, construction near an airport, temporary obstruction, or outages of navigational aids, and they can be issued with short lead times or updated mid-flight. In flight planning, you pull NOTAM information for your departure, along your intended route, and for your destination, then factor any restrictions or hazards into your plan. If a NOTAM indicates a runway closure or a NAV aid outage along your route, you’ll adjust the flight plan, possibly select an alternate, or time the flight differently. You should review NOTAMs before you fly and monitor for new ones during the flight to update your plan as needed. NOTAMs are not marketing notices, not regulatory letters to pilots, and not weather forecasts—weather information comes from METARs and TAFs.