Read the NOTAMs! And cheat.
On a recent flight from Telluride to Houston, it was CAVU and quiet over the desert between Albuquerque and Roswell. Smooth, early morning, coffee, wife chilling in the back. All good.
Suddenly, our G-1000 panel went bonkers. Alarm messages wailed. Green numbers turned yellow. Lights flashed. The autopilot shut off, the ADS-B shut down, and the TAWS (the Terrain Awareness & Warning System) announced out loud (and loudly) that it had disabled itself. A big red X appeared over the plane icon on the moving map.
My wife nonchalantly glanced up from her magazine and cocked an eyebrow that queried, “What have you done, now?”
As I was contemplating our immediate future, we heard (from a part of the panel that appeared to still be working) a nearby radio call:
“Albuquerque Center, Pilatus 1234. Uh, did something just happen?”
Albuquerque Center: “Affirmative, GPS is intermittently disabled for a 400nm radius surrounding White Sands Missile Range. Advise if you’d like a heading.”
Pilatus 1234: “Uh, OK, thank you. Boy, my plane does not like that AT ALL.”
I sympathized.
Of course, the information had been RIGHT THERE in the briefing for everyone to see, on page 23, in section 12, in the NOTAM (Notices to Airmen) subsection, in the “En Route” sub-subsection, in the “Navigation” sub-sub-subsection, at the bottom, after the listings of NDB outages, in a small, light font:
Now, it was a beautiful day, and no harm was done. Just punch “Heading Mode” and get on with your day. (For those really paying attention, the FAA has published a Policy Statement announcing that it’s permissible to cross a NOTAM’d GPS interference area, even if it results in losing ADS-B where it would otherwise be required. That was important to us, as we were above 10,000’ MSL.)
But if we’d all been in the soup, not knowing a GPS outage could occur might not have been quite so humorous. And in that case, if something did go awry for our Pilatus driver, you could be sure the FAA’s Exhibit 1 at the Enforcement Action wouldn’t be the NOTAM disclosure above, but its July 5 Advisory, complete with big red letters and a giant map:
As for me that day, I had cheated. And you should too. Sign up for an account with FAASafety.Gov. Edit your publications preferences here: https://www.faasafety.gov/Users/pub/preferences.aspx. Subscribe to “Local Air Safety Information” and you’ll receive emails from FAASafety.Gov advising you of predicted GPS outages near your zip code, complete with links to the giant outage maps. Subscribing to “Selected ATC Notices” will add emails of notices of planned GPS outages nationwide, among other things. (Those notices are also here: https://www.faasafety.gov/SPANS/notices_public.aspx.) While you’re there, why not sign up, too, for “Airports - General and Safety Information” and “Runway Safety Information.” Lots of useful material, delivered right to your inbox.
Including one email that might still leave you a tad startled when your panel goes FUBAR, but won’t leave you bumbling around on frequency wondering, “Did something just happen?”
Of course, these FAA email advisories in no way absolve pilots of their obligations under FAR 91.103 to perform a proper flight briefing and “become familiar with all available information concerning that flight." (Read your NOTAMs!) But they’re helpful, and they often provide both information and context to assist flight planning and enhance flight safety.
