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ZSE center controller reported issues relating to notams and how they are written.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1762832 |
| Time | |
| Date | 202009 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZSE.ARTCC |
| State Reference | WA |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Small Aircraft |
| Flight Phase | Final Approach |
| Route In Use | Other Instrument Approach |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Enroute |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Experience | Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 3 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
Aircraft X was landing lgd. I checked the notams and advised the pilot of a runway closure (16/34). He said there was only one NOTAM published and [that] was not it. Yesterday I informed another pilot of the closure and he said he was unaware of the NOTAM as well; but didn't tell me it wasn't published. I know it is the controller's responsibility to verify notams; but in many cases the workload is so high and the notams are written in such a cryptic manner that [they] are difficult to decipher that it is easy to miss important closures. The runway closure; which in my opinion is the most important notams; was sandwiched 4 notams down between information about a taxiway and a change to minimum climb rates for the odp. The system is clearly broken and has been for some time. My impression is that the FAA really doesn't care and is waiting for a serious accident and subsequent lawsuit before they will take any meaningful action.notams need to be in plain language and ordered in a manner of most important to least important. There also needs to be a way that pilots can obtain notams while airborne.I informed management what the pilot told me about the NOTAM not being disseminated. They verified the NOTAM about the runway closure was in effect but I'm not sure they took any other action to make sure it was being properly distributed.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: ZSE Center Controller reported issues relating to NOTAMs and how they are written.
Narrative: Aircraft X was landing LGD. I checked the NOTAMs and advised the pilot of a runway closure (16/34). He said there was only one NOTAM published and [that] was not it. Yesterday I informed another pilot of the closure and he said he was unaware of the NOTAM as well; but didn't tell me it wasn't published. I know it is the Controller's responsibility to verify NOTAMs; but in many cases the workload is so high and the NOTAMs are written in such a cryptic manner that [they] are difficult to decipher that it is easy to miss important closures. The runway closure; which in my opinion is the most important NOTAMs; was sandwiched 4 NOTAMs down between information about a taxiway and a change to minimum climb rates for the ODP. The system is clearly broken and has been for some time. My impression is that the FAA really doesn't care and is waiting for a serious accident and subsequent lawsuit before they will take any meaningful action.NOTAMs need to be in plain language and ordered in a manner of most important to least important. There also needs to be a way that pilots can obtain NOTAMs while airborne.I informed management what the pilot told me about the NOTAM not being disseminated. They verified the NOTAM about the runway closure was in effect but I'm not sure they took any other action to make sure it was being properly distributed.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.