WHILE CONDUCTING A LOCAL NIGHT FLT; AD INSTRUCTOR AND STUDENT WERE 'BUZZED' BY AN F16 MIL FIGHTER. UPON LNDG; THE ACFT WAS MET BY THE COUNTY SHERIFF ADVISING THAT THE AIRSPACE WAS 'CLOSED.'
Synopsis
WHILE CONDUCTING A LOCAL NIGHT FLT; AD INSTRUCTOR AND STUDENT WERE 'BUZZED' BY AN F16 MIL FIGHTER. UPON LNDG; THE ACFT WAS MET BY THE COUNTY SHERIFF ADVISING THAT THE AIRSPACE WAS 'CLOSED.'
Narrative
FOLLOWING THE TERRORIST ATTACKS ON THE WORLD TRADE CENTER AND PENTAGON. I FREQUENTLY CHKED FOR NOTAMS AFFECTING ARPT OR AIRSPACE RESTRICTIONS AT VARIOUS TIMES ALL DAY. NUMEROUS ARPT CLOSINGS IN THE NYC AREA AND AIRSPACE RESTRICTIONS IN NYC AND NEAR A CRASH SITE IN PA WERE NOTED; AND A NUMBER OF NOTAMS CLOSED AIR CARRIER ARPTS IN UPSTATE NY. NO 'D' OR FDC NOTAMS AFFECTING AIRSPACE IN GENERAL WERE CONTAINED IN ANY OF THE DUAT STANDARD AND AREA BRIEFINGS. FOLLOWING ONE LAST CHECK OF NOTAMS; I TOOK A STUDENT ON A NIGHT ORIENTATION FLT; AND WHILE ON BASE LEG WAS BUZZED BY A JET WHICH APPEARED TO BE AN F16. SHORTLY AFTER LNDG; I WAS MET BY TWO SHERIFF DEPUTIES; WHO SAID THAT ACCORDING TO THEIR INFO; ALL AIRSPACE WAS CLOSED. I AGAIN CHKED NOTAMS; AND FOUND NOTHING TO SUBSTANTIATE THIS. SINCE IT IS SELF-EVIDENT THAT MOST DUAT USERS ARE CONTEMPLATING FLT; IT APPEARS AN OVERSIGHT NOT TO INCLUDE NOTICE OF ANY SUCH RESTRICTION IN THE NOTAMS SECTION OF DUAT BRIEFINGS; AND BETTER YET; TO PLACE IT IN A PROMINENT PLACE -- ONE MORE LIKELY TO BE IMMEDIATELY NOTICED. NOT INCLUDING IT AT ALL IS A MAJOR OMISSION. PUBLICATION OF NOTAMS THAT CONTAIN LOCAL INFO RELATING TO A MAJOR EVENT WHILE OMITTING MUCH MORE GENERAL AND RESTRICTING INFO ADDS TO THE CONCLUSION THERE IS NO GENERAL AND RESTRICTIVE INFO. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR ALLEGED THE FOLLOWING. HE OBTAINED A 'STANDARD' DUATS BRIEFING VIA HOME COMPUTER. THE NOTAMS PROVIDED IN HIS 'STANDARD' BRIEFING WERE 'D' (DISTANCE) NOTAMS AND FDC (FLT DATA CENTER) NOTAMS; NEITHER OF WHICH INCLUDED NOTAMS ADVISING THE CLOSURE OF THE NATIONAL AIRSPACE SYSTEM. THE RPTR STATED THAT THE 'D' NOTAMS PROVIDE NOTAMS AFFECTING THE TO/FROM ARPT INFO AND NOTAMS ALONG THE PLANNED RTE OF FLT. THE FDC NOTAMS ALERT THE PLT TO TEMPORARY FLT RESTRS (TFR) ASSOCIATED WITH HIS RTE OF FLT. NEITHER 'D' OR 'FDC' ALERTED PLTS TO A NATIONAL AIRSPACE SYSTEM CLOSURE. BY 9/THU/01; THERE WERE PHRASES THAT ALERTED PLTS ABOUT NATIONAL TFR'S. THE RPTR ADVISED THAT ONLY 'NON ASSOCIATED' NOTAMS HAD THE NATIONAL AIRSPACE RESTR. 'NON ASSOCIATED' NOTAMS ARE USUALLY ADMINISTRATIVE IN NATURE -- SUCH AS THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH CUBA AND IRAN. HE DID NOT WANT TO WATCH TV OR LISTEN TO THE RADIO AT THE ARPT; SO WAS NOT AWARE OF THE NATIONAL AIRSPACE RESTRS. HE WAS AWARE OF A PROBLEM WHEN HE ENCOUNTERED THE F16 AND THE NOTIFICATION BY THE SHERIFF AFTER LNDG.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.