4.4 NOTAMs, TFRs, and Accident/Incident Duties

Part 91 does not end at cruise altitude. 91.103 is the preflight duty. The AIM NOTAM system and the TFR sections (91.137–91.145) are how that duty finds temporary, regulatory airspace. 49 CFR part 830, 91.3, and 91.123 are what you owe after an accident, a serious incident, or an emergency deviation. PAR writes these as separate questions; treat them as one timeline: brief, fly, then report only what the correct rule requires.

Preflight information — 91.103

Each PIC shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight. The regulation then lists mandatory contents, not a complete catalog.

For IFR, or a flight not in the vicinity of an airport, that information must include weather reports and forecasts, fuel requirements, alternatives available if the planned flight cannot be completed, and any known traffic delays of which ATC has advised the PIC.

For any flight, it must include runway lengths at airports of intended use and takeoff and landing distance information: AFM/RFM data if the aircraft is required to have an approved flight manual, or other reliable performance information (elevation, slope, weight, wind, temperature) if it is not.

NOTAMs, TFRs, GPS outages, and closed runways are “available information.” AIM 5-1-3 says 91.103 directs pilots to become familiar with NOTAMs and points to NOTAM Search (https://notams.aim.faa.gov/notamSearch/) and Flight Service. A standard weather briefing that you never asked to include TFRs or ARTCC (Center) NOTAMs is an incomplete 91.103 job. Review the ARTCC NOTAMs for every Center you will cross — they are where many TFRs, SUA, GPS, and FDC route changes live. Update destination information in flight, especially at nontowered fields, because snow removal, vehicles, and wildlife may not have been in the preflight package.

NWKRAFT (Notams, Weather, Known ATC delays, Runway lengths, Alternates, Fuel, Takeoff/landing data) is a memory aid. The test cites 91.103.

Current NOTAM classification — AIM 5-1-3 (2/20/25)

Do not recite retired “local / NOTAM L” categories. The current AIM classifies NOTAM information as:

1. Domestic NOTAMs (NOTAM D). Distant dissemination for NAS navaids and for public-use aerodromes, seaplane bases, and heliports in the Chart Supplement. Typical content: taxiway closures, personnel and equipment near runways, airport lighting that does not affect instrument-approach criteria. Every NOTAM D begins with a keyword after the location (RWY, TWY, APRON, NAV, COM, SVC, AIRSPACE, OBST, and the rest of AIM Table 5-1-1). Subtypes include aerodrome/field conditions, airspace (CARF, SUA, UAS, pyrotechnics), visual and radio navaids, communications and services, and Pointer NOTAMs — NOTAMs that point to additional information. Pointers should be issued for TFRs, airshows, temporary SUA, and major NAS interruptions, and the pointer’s keyword must match the original NOTAM.
2. FDC NOTAMs. Issued to disseminate regulatory information. AIM 5-1-3 lists amendments to published IAPs and other current aeronautical charts; Temporary Flight Restrictions; high barometric pressure warnings; laser activity; ADS-B / TIS-B / FIS-B serviceability; satellite-based systems (WAAS/GPS); and Special Notices. Security NOTAMs that tell pilots about U.S. security activities or special security instructions are FDC NOTAMs (location KZZZ on NOTAM Search). International flight-prohibition and hostile-situation notices use KICZ.
3. International NOTAMs. ICAO Annex 15 format, used to share U.S. data abroad and to store foreign NOTAMs in the U.S. system.
4. Military NOTAMs. Originated by USAF, Army, Marine Corps, or Navy for military or joint-use NAS facilities; published in international format. Review them if you will use a joint-use field.

The FAA’s current order title is again Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) (GENOT N 7930.114, February 10, 2025, reversed the short-lived “Notice to Air Missions” name). The acronym did not change.

Temporary flight restrictions — 91.137 through 91.145

A TFR is not a suggestion and not a weather product. It is a NOTAM that designates airspace and the rule that governs it. Graphic depictions on tfr.faa.gov help; the controlling language is the FDC NOTAM.

91.137 disaster / hazard areas. The Administrator issues a NOTAM when needed to (1) protect persons and property from a surface hazard, (2) give disaster-relief aircraft a safe environment, or (3) prevent sightseeing congestion over an incident of high public interest. Who may enter depends on which paragraph the NOTAM cites. An (a)(1) hazard TFR is the tightest: only aircraft participating in hazard relief under the official in charge. An (a)(2) relief TFR also allows law enforcement, ATC-approved IFR, certain airport-in-the-area or weather/terrain circumnavigation flights that do not sightsee and that check with the FSS/ATC named in the NOTAM, and accredited news media above relief altitude after filing. An (a)(3) congestion TFR is similar but does not use the “relief participant” key. Read the NOTAM; do not assume “news helicopter” is always welcome.

91.138 is a Hawaii-specific national-disaster TFR. 91.139 is the process for emergency air traffic rules when the ATC system itself is in an emergency — fly only as the NOTAM’s rule allows. 91.141 is presidential and other public-figure restrictions: no person may operate over or in the vicinity of an area to be visited or traveled by the President, Vice President, or other public figures contrary to the restrictions in the NOTAM. There is no “I did not see Air Force One” defense. 91.143 closes designated space-flight areas except as ATC authorizes. 91.144 can restrict operations when barometric pressure is abnormally high. 91.145 manages airspace around aerial demonstrations and major sporting events (Blue Angels, Thunderbirds, Olympics, World Series, and similar). Those NOTAMs normally publish at least 30 days ahead; sporting-event rings are often about a 3 NM radius and 2,500 feet AGL, and demonstration rings about 5 NM / 17,000 MSL or 13,000 AGL for some parachute work — but the NOTAM’s coordinates and altitudes control, not the textbook “normally.”

Entering a TFR without the authorization that TFR names is a regulatory violation, not a briefing oversight. Stadium and VIP TFRs are the ones private pilots actually blunder into on a Saturday.

NTSB part 830 — notify now, report on the clock

Accident (49 CFR 830.2). An occurrence associated with aircraft operation between the time any person boards with the intention of flight and all such persons have disembarked, in which any person suffers death or serious injury, or the aircraft receives substantial damage. Serious injury includes hospitalization more than 48 hours starting within 7 days, a bone fracture other than simple finger/toe/nose fractures, severe hemorrhage or nerve/muscle/tendon damage, an internal-organ injury, or second- or third-degree burns or burns over more than 5 percent of the body. Fatal injury is death within 30 days. Substantial damage is damage or failure that adversely affects structural strength, performance, or flight characteristics and that would normally need major repair or replacement. Explicitly not substantial for this part: engine failure or damage limited to one engine; bent fairings or cowling; dented skin; small punctured holes; ground damage to rotor or propeller blades; and damage to landing gear, wheels, tires, flaps, engine accessories, brakes, or wingtips. A collapsed nosewheel with no other damage is usually not an “accident.” A spar that needs replacing is.

Immediate notification — 830.5. The operator shall immediately, by the most expeditious means, notify the nearest NTSB office (Response Operations Center 844-373-9922 or 202-314-6290) when an aircraft accident occurs, when an aircraft is overdue and believed to have been in an accident, or when any listed serious incident occurs. The incident list includes flight-control malfunction or failure; a required crewmember unable to perform duties because of injury or illness; in-flight fire; midair collision; property damage other than the aircraft estimated over $25,000; release of all or part of a propeller blade (except solely from ground contact); complete loss of information from more than 50 percent of EFIS/EICAS/ECAM-type cockpit displays; and several large-multiengine and air-carrier items. An incident is not an accident; it is still immediately notifiable if it is on that list.

Reports — 830.15. File NTSB Form 6120.1/2 within 10 days after an accident, or after 7 days if an overdue aircraft is still missing. A written report on a 830.5(a) incident is filed only if an authorized Board representative requests it. Each physically able crewmember attaches a statement of the facts as they appeared to that crewmember.

Emergency authority and the reports people confuse

91.3. The PIC is directly responsible for, and the final authority as to, the operation. In an in-flight emergency requiring immediate action, the PIC may deviate from any rule of Part 91 to the extent required to meet that emergency. A written report of that deviation goes to the Administrator upon the request of the Administrator — not automatically, and not “within 10 days” (that is the NTSB accident form).

91.123. If you deviate from an ATC clearance or instruction in an emergency or in response to a TCAS resolution advisory, notify ATC as soon as possible. If ATC gave you priority in an emergency, even if you did not break a Part 91 rule, submit a detailed report of that emergency within 48 hours to the manager of that ATC facility if requested by ATC.

Three different mailboxes: NTSB 10-day accident form; Administrator 91.3 report if asked; ATC 48-hour priority report if asked. Do not staple them together on the test.

91.13 and 91.15, if there is room in the stem. Careless or reckless operation that endangers life or property of another is 91.13, in the air or while moving on an air-commerce airport surface. 91.15 does not forbid dropping objects; it forbids dropping an object that creates a hazard. Reasonable precautions that avoid injury or damage make the drop legal. Flour-bombing a vacant practice field after briefing the run is the usual legal picture; dropping anything over a highway is not.