NORAD isn’t the type of organization that has to ask nicely for anything, but it’s now pleading with GA pilots to please check NOTAMs before heading off for a $200 hamburger. The continental defense group is noticing a troubling uptick in TFR busts as the summer flying season gets into full swing. Steve “Stretch” Armstrong, NORAD’s Vice Chief of Operations, told AvBrief the root cause of most of the dramatic interceptions his pilots perform all over the U.S. and Canada is a simple lack of proper flight planning. He said NORAD is beseeching pilots to take that step before every flight because it is their responsibility to avoid the restricted airspace. Beseech is another word for beg, which is not normally used by the military force that is our principal nuclear deterrent. Pilots who have busted TFRs have a lot of different reactions to being intercepted, including one who landed and hid under a bridge. Spoiler alert: it didn’t work.
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I beseech NORAD to role play VFR pilot mission planning and try to dig thru the NOTAM mess presented on a daily basis…and then actually use their horsepower to fix the mess.
Other choice is to continue to weight all notams equally, create multiple duplicates load up system with UAS notices and in all cases bury operational info in pages of legalese and blame users.
Wonder which path they’ll choose.
Maybe also the flurry of giant 10+30nm “VIP” TFRs popping up over busy metro areas during the busy summer flying season with complex overlaps and carve-outs and effective times is contributing to the issue. Even when viewed graphically, it can be difficult to determine the exact coverage area and timing.
Don’t rest all the blame on the pilots. Even ATC sometimes has a hard time figuring out exactly when and where the TFRs are.
Start by getting rid of the all-caps teletype format, use better text formatting for delineating sections, and put the important when-and-where FIRST, followed by the steps necessary to fly over/through them.
I think the Iraqi Republican Guard tried this waaaaay back when. Didn’t work then either…
PURSUANT TO 49 USC 40103(B)(3), THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION (FAA) CLASSIFIES THE AIRSPACE DEFINED IN THIS NOTAM AS ‘NTL DEFENSE AIRSPACE’. PILOTS WHO DO NOT ADHERE TO THE FOLLOWING PROC MAY BE INTERCEPTED, DETAINED AND INTERVIEWED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT/SECURITY PERSONNEL. ANY OF THE FOLLOWING ADDITIONAL ACTIONS MAY ALSO BE……
Sorry, TL;DR….
How about writing TFR’s in plain English including formatting dates and times in a way that the vast majority of people communicate? For a great example of clarity copy and paste any TFR into Perplexity AI and request a translation.
Yep, and while working that revision, perhaps we could stop reporting weather in a teletype format?
OTOH, the number of TFRs has proliferated from big deal gatherings like presidential visits and stadium events to TFRs protecting some sort of drone operations, mostly surface to 400 ft, and other operationally insignificant barriers that fills my screen with “obstacles” that don’t have any real effects on a flight. TFRs now “pop-up” like toadstools after a rain. TFRs & NOTAMS have become unwieldy mechanisms designed to CYA of event organizers everywhere, having little to do with actual threats from or to aviation. Most seem designed, at least lately, to create no-fly zones for UAVs & drones. Once TFRs become as common & clumsy to navigate as NOTAMS, they overwhelm & desensitize pilots.
Perhaps pilots would read and comprehend NOTAMs regarding TFR’s more accurately if we weren’t presented with 6 NOTAMs that read like this incomprehensible gobbledegook:
FL..AIRSPACE MAYPORT, FL..TEMPORARY FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS. JUNE 22-26, 2026 LOCAL. PURSUANT TO 49 USC 40103(B)(3), THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION (FAA) CLASSIFIES THE AIRSPACE DEFINED IN THIS NOTAM AS ‘NTL DEFENSE AIRSPACE’. PILOTS WHO DO NOT ADHERE TO THE FOLLOWING PROC MAY BE INTERCEPTED, DETAINED AND INTERVIEWED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT/SECURITY PERSONNEL. ANY OF THE FOLLOWING ADDITIONAL ACTIONS MAY ALSO BE TAKEN AGAINST A PILOT WHO DOES NOT COMPLY WITH THE RQMNTS OR ANY SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS OR PROC ANNOUNCED IN THIS NOTAM: A) THE FAA MAY TAKE ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION, INCLUDING IMPOSING CIVIL PENALTIES AND THE SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF AIRMEN CERTIFICATES; OR B) THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT MAY PURSUE CRIMINAL CHARGES, INCLUDING CHARGES UNDER 49 USC SECTION 46307; OR C) THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT MAY USE DEADLY FORCE AGAINST THE AIRBORNE ACFT, IF IT IS DETERMINED THAT THE ACFT POSES AN IMMINENT SECURITY THREAT. PURSUANT TO 14 CFR 99.7, SPECIAL SECURITY INSTRUCTIONS, ALL ACFT FLT OPS ARE PROHIBITED: WI AN AREA DEFINED AS 301918N0812606W (CRG108004) THEN COUNTERCLOCKWISE ON A 4.2NM ARC CENTERED ON 302329N0812528W (CRG058005.4) TO 302421N0813013W (CRG008004) TO POINT OF ORIGIN SFC-2500FT MSL EFFECTIVE 2606221230 UTC (0830 LOCAL 06/22/26) UNTIL 2606260600 UTC (0200 LOCAL 06/26/26) DLY 1230-0600 (0830-0200 LOCAL). WI AN AREA DEFINED AS 301853N0812530W (CRG111004.6) TO 302232N0812838W (CRG041002.8) TO 303421N0811707W (CRG043018.2) TO 303129N0811308W (CRG057018.8) TO 303128N0811123W (CRG059020) TO 303000N0811057W (CRG063019.5) TO 302721N0810938W (CRG072019.4) TO 302518N0810901W (CRG078019.3) TO 302509N0811756W (CRG069012) TO THE POINT OF ORIGIN 1700FT MSL-14000FT MSL EFFECTIVE 2606221230 UTC (0830 LOCAL 06/22/26) UNTIL 2606260600 UTC (0200 LOCAL 06/26/26) DLY 1230-0600 (0830-0200 LOCAL). WI AN AREA DEFINED AS 301853N0812530W (CRG111004.6) TO 301332N0813207W (CRG194006.9) TO 301614N0813442W (CRG224005.4) TO 302017N0813041W TO 301924N0812939W (CRG142001.2) TO 302105N0812723W (CRG078002.9) TO POINT OF ORIGIN 2500FT MSL-8500FT MSL EFFECTIVE 2606221230 UTC (0830 LOCAL 06/22/26) UNTIL 2606260600 UTC (0200 LOCAL 06/26/26) DLY 1230-0600 (0830-0200 LOCAL). WI AN AREA DEFINED AS 301924N0812939W (CRG142001.2) TO 302017N0813041W (CRG240000.1) TO 302232N0812838W (CRG041002.8) TO 302105N0812723W (CRG078002.9) TO POINT OF ORIGIN 1200FT MSL-3000FT MSL EFFECTIVE 2606221230 UTC (0830 LOCAL 06/22/26) UNTIL 2606260600 UTC (0200 LOCAL 06/26/26) DLY 1230-0600 (0830-0200 LOCAL). EXC AS SPECIFIED BLW AND/OR UNLESS AUTH BY ATC: 1. ALL AIRCRAFT ENTERING OR EXITING THE TFR MUST BE ON A DISCRETE CODE ASSIGNED BY AN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ATC) FACILITY. 2. AIRCRAFT MUST BE SQUAWKING THE DISCRETE CODE AT ALL TIMES WHILE IN THE TFR. 3. ALL AIRCRAFT ENTERING OR EXITING THE TFR MUST REMAIN IN TWO-WAY RADIO COMMUNICATIONS WITH ATC. 4. MAYPORT ATCT, TELEPHONE 904-270-6130 IS THE COORDINATION FACILITY. THE MAYPORT /NRB/ APCH, TEL 904-270-6130, IS THE CDN FAC.
Six? Son, you are an optimist. My last briefing (yesterday, local flight 23 nm, G & E airspace) had 14 including the local standing stuff. It would have taken me an hour to plot all the irrelevant stuff to fly a maintenance reposition, let alone a flight from Detroit to Denver.
And then, while you are attempting to decipher them, they change like the staircases at Hogwarts.
Now for the “parting thought” equal time, Russ. Actually there are too many so I won’t address all of them here.
I was disappointed in one softball after another that you lobbed at him. I realize your purpose was not to be an activist and criticize the system, nevertheless the more I listened to Stretch frankly the more peeved I got with both of you as the undercurrent of the interview increasingly blamed the general pilot population for what is increasingly systemic public airspace mismanagement.
Secondly, with the increasing number of TFR incursions, I wish Russ that you had asked Stretch if it has ever dawned on them that the number and frequency of TFR busts might be a symptom of systemic airspace mismanagement rather than something being wrong with the general pilot population? In most communities across the developed industrial world when repeat road accidents at certain locations become a trend, those locations are modified to accommodate drivers and reduce road accidents rather than lowering the boom on drivers who are simply doing what comes to them naturally as an aggregate.
Thirdly, I wholeheartedly agree with the criticism of the NOTAM system expressed here. Unless one pays $$ to the growing flight planning cottage industry to have NOTAMS synthesized and rendered digestible, the NOTAM problem will only become more evidence of public airspace mismanagement.
My ultimate concern is the trend I see in US airspace becoming like that of China, 100% owned exclusively by the military and security agencies. My experience navigating through China is endless heading charges, multiple and ever changing offset parallel course assignments of X number of miles for X numbers of minutes followed by more and more and more just to accommodate the Chinese airspace owner, namely the military and security folks.
At some point in time it needs to dawn on someone like Stretch and frankly our lawmakers that this land and this airspace belongs to the people, not solely to them, and it should be so managed. Until that happens, “they”, not the general aviation flying public increasingly become the root cause of TFR busts.
Fair criticism of the interview.
I fully agree with your points regarding the frequency of TFRs and their subsequent (virtually always) inadvertent incursions. One would think that the fact that apparently most pilots violating these TFRs did so inadvertently and without malice would clue NORAD and the FAA into the fact that maybe the TFR NOTAM system is broken.
I also agree with your points about how we risk having TFRs take up more and more airspace for longer and longer periods of time.
Stretch was not going to be dragged into any discussion on the quality or effectiveness of TFR presentation. His job is to keep us out of restricted airspace, period. Doing that is the pilot’s responsibility as is complying with the directions from the F-16 or Black Hawk and that was his whole message. It’s the FAA that writes the TFRs and I’ll try to get an interview there but I’m not optimistic.
Russ, I’ll buy in that he doesn’t control or have influence over location, duration or frequency of TFRs, that’s a POTUS/staff/Secret Service issue that both parties have abused.
However NORAD is a stakeholder in the TFR notification problem. If NORAD is unwilling to advocate that perhaps the NOTAM system and TFR verbiage/presentation is not ripe for improvement and part of the problem, then I have absolutely no respect for their position.
“We’ve always done it that way” is the weakest and most dangerous argument in aviation. NORAD has the opportunity to engage which would ultimately save them OPTAR, flight hours and perhaps even minimize distraction from real threats.
But having been in/around this world for 40+ years I also know the impulse to stake out the righteous high ground (where there are no mirrors) from which to sling out blame upon the unworthy.
Stretch is part of the enforcement process. As such he is part of the system. Your job as a free press journalist in a democratic society is not to anticipate and then accommodate Stretch by asking him strictly milk toast questions. Your job is to ask the tough questions along with the softballs and let him do the work of refusing to be accountable and dragged into system quality and effectiveness questions. The question for you to ask yourself is are you NORAD’s PR department or are you a journalist of the free press in a democratic society whose responsibility is to your readership?
But now that the interview is done and pilots all say the same things about how bad the NOTAMS system has become, Mr. Niles can send a link to the comments to Mr. Armstrong and hopefully others will catch on. At least we are talking about it publicly now.
Disagree. Stretch’s role is clearly defined and starts after a pilot has crossed the line in the sky. His accountability is in that narrow space. He couldn’t care less if the TFRs were written in Sanskrit and posted on the grocery store bulletin board. That’s up to you and the FAA to sort out. Cross the line and expect an F-16 on your wing. That is what we talked about because that’s all he would talk about. Peppering him with irrelevant questions would have served no purpose other than to justifiably piss him off in some kind of exhibition of showboat journalism. Not interested. I will, however, ask the FAA for their reaction to these comments because that’s where those questions are properly directed.
This will shock you, Russ, but I agree with you. While it is plain the entire NOTAM system is a wreck, Stretch isn’t the guy to fix it. That will have to happen legislatively, or, in today’s world, via executive action. You handled the interview well.
Ok. Then maybe we should all send this to our Congressmen and Senators.
One of my Senators sits on the Transportation Subcommittee, so I contacted his office with our concerns.
Here’s what I got from the FAA: “FAA Statement
The FAA is engaging with stakeholders/NOTAM users as it transitions from the old system to a new modern NOTAM system.”
Thanks, Russ.
Sounds like a typical form letter from a bureaucratic government official. But Thanks for trying Russ. I don’t suppose they asked you for any specific recommendations about it and my guess is that they didn’t supply any details or target dates for when it would happen either.
NORAD is an operational command, as such anything that impacts the success or failure of its mission is in its job jar. The post 911 report focused on lack of cross communication among stakeholder organizations as a key “lesson learned” and seam to close. No one short of the NORAD commander gets to say “not my problem” and that luxury comes with accountability.
Having deployed in the cockpit, as an operational staff puke and also within supporting organizations, “not my job” is not the means to success, so I think you are not giving him credit for all aspects of what he can achieve thru internal direction to set up “tiger teams” to address issues with external orgs (FAA, Secret Service, etc). Your interview with him was part of that external outreach to GA.
Is he going to air dirty laundry or cast blame in an interview? unlikely because that destroys trust with the engaged external orgs.
What he may lack is a viewpoint that shows how convoluted it is to comply, consider this discussion shared with him our part to inform.
If mobile SAM envelops were briefed as poorly as TFRs are presented, that would get fixed yesterday.
I’ve been attending some of the NOTAM update discussions online. After seeing what they were doing, I stopped wasting my time. THAT process is as onerous as trying to read the NOTAMS !!
The Government … making simple “stuff” hard since 1776 !!
Once a resolution gets through all the committees and sub-committees, it’s all but ruined. They’ve got more hang ups than the telephone company.
Been an ATP career pilot for most of my life and still have trouble reading the gobbledygook print they call NOTAMS. So maybe they figure they can intercept some enemy intruder aircraft because they can’t read it either. Maybe that was their idea after all. Job security ya know.
Yeah, that’s fine and all, but have you actually tried to *read* NOTAMs lately? I took a recent trip to Los Angeles, landing at Santa Monica. There were literal PAGES of TFRs, and 99% of them were for UAS operations at or below 400′.
These things are a safety of flight issue, because an actual NOTAM that affects manned aircraft can easily get buried in the clutter of all of these UAS NOAMs. They need to be segregated into an entirely separate category and (in EFBs like ForeFlight) into a separate TFR layer that you don’t have to display if you’re not operating a UAS.
Are you guys hiring, Russ? It looks like someone is vying for your job. While you and I have ideological differences, you are more than competent as a journalist. Acting like a jerk toward an interviewee isn’t a good way to secure future interviews.
You can put lipstick on a pig…
VIP restrictions must end in a modern democracy. Canada does not do this.
Agreed. Besides, the threat is not (and never has been, really) manned general aviation. Ukraine is teaching lessons that apparently our national leadership either dismisses or won’t publicly acknowledge; see Operation Spider Web. But they are incapable of backing down and admitting they were (or are) wrong, so useless TFRs continue to proliferate and people get the book thrown at them, while actual crimes and safety issues go unaddressed because fixing those doesn’t have the same optics of Doing Something.
Stretch seems like a very nice man. No doubt doing a thankless and practically impossible job.
Has he ever acted PIC?
Single pilot?
With a flaky alternator?
In crowded bravo-adjacent-charlie-adjacent airspace with nearby terrain?
Has he ever had occasion to traverse the DC SFR vfr?
IFR?
How about the NY VFR corridor?
Has he planned the above flights carefully as no doubt some readers have done?
Has he plowed through the dozens and dozens of NOTAMs that are ever-present, and the vast majority of which are totally irrelevant to one’s operation, except that one, buried deep in the stack, somewhere in Foreflight, with cryptic and exceptionally verbose and irrelevant language, is relevant in a life-critical manner, but that one is not about a VIP?
Has he?
Has he ever been task-saturated with his children in the back seat when ATC advised him of an imminent pop-up TFR?
Has he?
Russ, find some bureaucrat who can answer some of the above affirmatively. Please.