Aeronautical Information Service (AIS) — Page 364, Lesson 493

We're in the middle of the AIS chapter now, so let's pick up with the list of things that must be reported as NOTAMs. I want you to notice the pattern here — these are all conditions that could directly affect the safety of an approach, a landing, or a departure, so they get urgent distribution. First, failure or irregular operation of part or all of the aerodrome lighting system. That includes approach lights, threshold lights, runway lights, taxiway lights, obstruction lights, and the manoeuvring area unserviceability lights — those are the lights that mark an area as out of service. And it also covers the aerodrome power supply itself, because if the main power fails, the lighting may go down with it. Next, failure, irregular operation, and changes in the operational status of the navigation and landing aids. Let me name each one because you'll see these acronyms constantly. ILS is the Instrument Landing System, including its markers. SRE is Surveillance Radar Element. PAR is Precision Approach Radar. DME is Distance Measuring Equipment. SSR is Secondary Surveillance Radar. VOR is VHF Omni-directional Range. NDB is Non-Directional Beacon. Then VHF aeronautical mobile channels — those are the voice communication frequencies. The RVR observing system — that's Runway Visual Range, the equipment that measures how far you can see along the runway. And the secondary power supply, because if the primary fails, the backup must be reported too. Then there's a third category: the presence and operations of humanitarian relief missions, such as those undertaken under the auspices of the United Nations, together with any associated procedures and/or limitations applied thereof. So if a UN relief operation is active, that gets a NOTAM because it may change how airspace is used. Now, 18.41 introduces the PIB — the Pre-flight Information Bulletin. A PIB is a recapitulation of current NOTAMs and other information of urgent character, made available to flight crews in plain language. So the point is, you don't have to wade through raw NOTAM code — the PIB gives you a plain-language summary of what's current and urgent before you fly. Finally, 18.42 covers post-flight information. States must ensure that arrangements are made at aerodromes and heliports to receive information about the state and operation of air navigation facilities that aircrews noted during their flights. And they must ensure that information is made available to the aeronautical information service for distribution as the circumstances necessitate. So if you land and notice, say, a VOR behaving oddly, that report goes back into the AIS system so it can be distributed to other crews. That's the full set of NOTAM-reportable items and the two information bulletins.