No NOTAM at PSF for closure

jkgoblue

jkgoblue

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Sep 16, 2008
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337
Location
Sands Point, NY
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Display name:
John K.
So I was flying around yesterday looking for cheap fuel and decided to deviate to Pittsfield. Checked the NOTAMs on Foreflight and all that was mentioned was some instrument approach notices. Checked the ASOS, announced my intensions and whoa, there are trucks and bulldozers all over the place! Nothing in the NOTAMs and nothing on the ASOS. The airport has been closed since April 30th.

You'd think they'd NOTAM it.
 
I see this NOTAM was issued on 4/30.

PSF 04/102 PSF AD AP CLSD 1804300400-1807230400

Note, ASOS do not typically have the ability to have NOTAMs. Foreflight needs internet access to get the NOTAMs, so if you were airborne when you looked you may not have received that information.
 
Check all published notams, new or old.
Common problem with new gadget oriented pilots. Used to be call wxbrief, 99% chance they would have mentioned it. But pilots want to use all the cool electronics, but not look at all the available information.
 
The biggest problem with the NOTAM system is too much information. If you brief for a cross country flight there could be over a hundred obstruction NOTAMs that honestly have no impact on 99.9% of flights. It is something us airport operators have complained about for years, that no priority is given to important NOTAMs. It is the FAA's stance that pilots must familiarize themselves with all pertinent information. Head in sand argument to me.
 
on iflightplanner.com you can separate them by category rather than have them vomited at you.
 
The other weakness in the NOTAM system, in my opinion, is the ability to receive NOTAMs in flight. As far as I have seen, they are not available through XM or ADS-B. Most of the time in the air we do not have adequate cellular internet connectivity. That leaves calling ATC or FSS on the radio, or ATIS at towered airfields.

Some AWOS systems do allow airports to add voice messages to the AWOS service, but not all do, and National Weather Service owned ASOS usually don't either. That is very important for pilots to understand, because I have seen it mentioned numerous times on POA threads that "The ASOS/AWOS didn't say the runway was closed". Not all have the ability, nor is it required by the FAA to use it.
 
I see 7 NOTAMS for PSF and this is listed 3rd. Not too hard to spot.
 
midwestpa24 said:
The biggest problem with the NOTAM system is too much information. If you brief for a cross country flight there could be over a hundred obstruction NOTAMs that honestly have no impact on 99.9% of flights. It is something us airport operators have complained about for years, that no priority is given to important NOTAMs. It is the FAA's stance that pilots must familiarize themselves with all pertinent information. Head in sand argument to me.
Click to expand...

Agree 100%, i May file two flight plans to get to one of the coasts, the briefings are insanely long and have tons of info I don’t care about. I usually skip a large portion of it and pay attention to departure and destination airport notams. I am sure that some super pilot will be along to tell me I am failing to familiarize myself will all available information about the flight.
 
The current version of ForeFlight makes it pretty obvious if there are runway or airport closure NOTAMs. It is highlighted in red at the bottom of the airport page, without having to dig into all of the NOTAMs. Is your ForeFlight up to date?

IMG_D135712E62B2-1.jpeg
 
Last edited:
TommyG said:
Check all published notams, new or old.
Common problem with new gadget oriented pilots. Used to be call wxbrief, 99% chance they would have mentioned it. But pilots want to use all the cool electronics, but not look at all the available information.
Click to expand...

You're right, the new gadgets make it nearly impossible to find this notam.
58E8695C-FF29-4E74-BBDA-97C6AABFE9A4.png
 
Topper said:
Agree 100%, i May file two flight plans to get to one of the coasts, the briefings are insanely long and have tons of info I don’t care about. I usually skip a large portion of it and pay attention to departure and destination airport notams. I am sure that some super pilot will be along to tell me I am failing to familiarize myself will all available information about the flight.
Click to expand...

I always ask for abbreviated briefings. "I want this and that."

Even with NOTAM's I will tell them "I don't want to hear about towers and other obstructions."
 
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