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Pilot reports a taf decoding error on a commercial website for otbd (doha; qatar). Seven kilometers (7000) is decoded as 700 miles.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 976012 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201110 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | OTBD.Airport |
| State Reference | FO |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Parked |
| Route In Use | Visual Approach |
| Flight Plan | VFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Not Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Private |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 0 Flight Crew Total 265 Flight Crew Type 200 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | No Specific Anomaly Occurred All Types |
Narrative:
During pre-flight planning as PIC I used an internet resource to collect a terminal aerodrome forecast (taf) report for the international airport located at doha; qatar. I noticed the visibility data was incorrectly decoded. The visibility was decoded in miles; taf decode showed visibility of 700.0 miles. The raw taf data showed 7000. The correct decode should have been 7 kilometers or 7000 meters. ICAO visibility is in meters; us standard is in statute miles. This remains a possible means for confusion and accidents. No flight was actually undertaken. I am merely pointing out flawed data due to differences in measurement standards. I reported the bad data to the website provider; to AOPA; and corresponded with a colleague at the national weather service.updated at xa:30 GMT on october 2011 (xc:30 ast) :taf otbd 211338Z 2118/2224 34014KT cavok becmg 2206/2208 33015g25kt 7000= decoded:identification: otbd doha intl airpo; qtreport valid time: october at xa:00Z to 22 october at xe:00Z. Initial WX winds: 340 at 14 weather: cavok WX becoming from xa:00Z to xc:00Z winds: 330 at 15 gust 25 visibility: 700.0 miles comments: 0=
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Pilot reports a TAF decoding error on a commercial website for OTBD (Doha; Qatar). Seven kilometers (7000) is decoded as 700 miles.
Narrative: During pre-flight planning as PIC I used an Internet resource to collect a Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) report for the international airport located at Doha; Qatar. I noticed the visibility data was incorrectly decoded. The visibility was decoded in miles; TAF decode showed visibility of 700.0 miles. The raw TAF data showed 7000. The correct decode should have been 7 kilometers or 7000 meters. ICAO visibility is in meters; US standard is in statute miles. This remains a possible means for confusion and accidents. No flight was actually undertaken. I am merely pointing out flawed data due to differences in measurement standards. I reported the bad data to the website provider; to AOPA; and corresponded with a colleague at the National Weather Service.Updated at XA:30 GMT on October 2011 (XC:30 AST) :TAF OTBD 211338Z 2118/2224 34014KT CAVOK BECMG 2206/2208 33015G25KT 7000= Decoded:ID: OTBD Doha Intl Airpo; QTREPORT VALID TIME: October AT XA:00Z to 22 October AT XE:00Z. INITIAL WX WINDS: 340 AT 14 WEATHER: CAVOK WX BECOMING FROM XA:00Z TO XC:00Z WINDS: 330 AT 15 GUST 25 VISIBILITY: 700.0 MILES COMMENTS: 0=
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.