Narrative:

St louis flight service had a NOTAM that the richmond airport in indiana was closed due to snow on txwys and runways. Before I arrived at 3SQ, my airport of departure, my chief pilot had called ahead and talked with the people at rid about the airport conditions. My chief pilot was told by the airport manager at rid that the runways and txwys are plowed and the airport would be open for us to land at later on that night. I talked to my chief pilot about this 2 hours after his conversation with the manager at rid. By this time, everyone at rid had gone home so there was no way I could personally talk to someone at richmond about it. I then told my director of operations, also the manager of our airport, about the fact that rid still has a NOTAM out saying that it is closed. He then told me that, in the past, when he has reopened our airport after a closure due to snow or flooding, that flight service had taken hours to publish the information. So, being that we were told by the people at richmond that the airport was open, I was not affected by the previously issued NOTAM (according to my director of operations). When I arrived at rid, I flew over the airport twice to verify that they had plowed the runway. Just as we were told, the runway and txwys had obviously been plowed and the airport appeared open as expected. I activated the pilot controled lighting, landed and departed 5 mins later without event. However, 2 days later, my chief pilot called richmond and inquired as to why the airport was still notamed closed. The airport manager said even though they plowed the airport, they never opened it. It turned out that the person my chief pilot talked to about the fact that the airport was open for us on the night of the flight in question, was not the airport manager at all. My chief pilot had just assumed it was the manager.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A SMA CARGO PLT DEPARTED FOR, AND LANDED AT A CLOSED ARPT. A NOTAM HAD BEEN ISSUED FOR THE ARPT CLOSURE, BUT THE CARGO OPS MGR ASSUMED THAT THE CLOSURE WAS ONLY DUE TO PLOWING OF THE RWYS AND TXWYS AND THAT THE ARPT WOULD BE OFFICIALLY OPEN AS SOON AS THE INFO REGARDING THE CLRED RWY SURFACE WAS DISSEMINATED.

Narrative: ST LOUIS FLT SVC HAD A NOTAM THAT THE RICHMOND ARPT IN INDIANA WAS CLOSED DUE TO SNOW ON TXWYS AND RWYS. BEFORE I ARRIVED AT 3SQ, MY ARPT OF DEP, MY CHIEF PLT HAD CALLED AHEAD AND TALKED WITH THE PEOPLE AT RID ABOUT THE ARPT CONDITIONS. MY CHIEF PLT WAS TOLD BY THE ARPT MGR AT RID THAT THE RWYS AND TXWYS ARE PLOWED AND THE ARPT WOULD BE OPEN FOR US TO LAND AT LATER ON THAT NIGHT. I TALKED TO MY CHIEF PLT ABOUT THIS 2 HRS AFTER HIS CONVERSATION WITH THE MGR AT RID. BY THIS TIME, EVERYONE AT RID HAD GONE HOME SO THERE WAS NO WAY I COULD PERSONALLY TALK TO SOMEONE AT RICHMOND ABOUT IT. I THEN TOLD MY DIRECTOR OF OPS, ALSO THE MGR OF OUR ARPT, ABOUT THE FACT THAT RID STILL HAS A NOTAM OUT SAYING THAT IT IS CLOSED. HE THEN TOLD ME THAT, IN THE PAST, WHEN HE HAS REOPENED OUR ARPT AFTER A CLOSURE DUE TO SNOW OR FLOODING, THAT FLT SVC HAD TAKEN HRS TO PUBLISH THE INFO. SO, BEING THAT WE WERE TOLD BY THE PEOPLE AT RICHMOND THAT THE ARPT WAS OPEN, I WAS NOT AFFECTED BY THE PREVIOUSLY ISSUED NOTAM (ACCORDING TO MY DIRECTOR OF OPS). WHEN I ARRIVED AT RID, I FLEW OVER THE ARPT TWICE TO VERIFY THAT THEY HAD PLOWED THE RWY. JUST AS WE WERE TOLD, THE RWY AND TXWYS HAD OBVIOUSLY BEEN PLOWED AND THE ARPT APPEARED OPEN AS EXPECTED. I ACTIVATED THE PLT CTLED LIGHTING, LANDED AND DEPARTED 5 MINS LATER WITHOUT EVENT. HOWEVER, 2 DAYS LATER, MY CHIEF PLT CALLED RICHMOND AND INQUIRED AS TO WHY THE ARPT WAS STILL NOTAMED CLOSED. THE ARPT MGR SAID EVEN THOUGH THEY PLOWED THE ARPT, THEY NEVER OPENED IT. IT TURNED OUT THAT THE PERSON MY CHIEF PLT TALKED TO ABOUT THE FACT THAT THE ARPT WAS OPEN FOR US ON THE NIGHT OF THE FLT IN QUESTION, WAS NOT THE ARPT MGR AT ALL. MY CHIEF PLT HAD JUST ASSUMED IT WAS THE MGR.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.