The sky is falling
Usually the FAA contents itself with sending out safety tips and notifications that airspace will be closed because the President or (more often) Vice President is going on vacation or a campaign speech. But this morning I got this ominous caution in the email:
Urgent Airmen Notification - Satellite Re-entryReally, this raises more questions than it answers. For openers: why is this a warning to airmen and not to people on the ground? Blue skies! -- Dan Ford
Notice Number: NOTC3252
Until September 26, 2011
U.S. airspace and territories
Specific instructions and restrictions are available from normal NOTAM sites and local air traffic facilities.
*For the latest information, call your local Flight Service Station at 1-800-WX-BRIEF.
posted by Daniel Ford @ 5:32 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I had similar reaction. Since I run an aviation website which tracks NOTAMs (maps.AvnWx.com) I wondered exactly what this "falling satellite" notam might say. Oddly enough, there is no notam that I can find: it's not on pilotweb, as a current notam, nor is it a published notam. "NOTC3252" isn't a standard NOTAM code (!FDC 1/2422, etc.) So, any idea what we're supposed to do?
Yes! Sally wife explained it to me: the satellite had already fallen, and we are supposed to look for it!
(I think.)
Blue skies! -- Dan Ford
Thanks for verifying I'm not nuts!!
Strange the FAA would send an Urgent Airmen Notification - that doesn't exist in their {normal NOTAM sites}.
Well, now it turns out that there may have been three thousand (?) pieces, and that they may have continued to fall through Saturday, so now I'm not so certain Sally was right. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford
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