Bill Gunn
TxDOT Aviation
The President of the United States has a ranch… so do a lot of lucky Texans. What makes President Bush and his ranch unique to pilots are the Secret Service and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) when the President is in residence.
Why is this important to pilots??? Because the airspace around President Bush’s ranch is prohibited airspace, specifically P-49, meaning aircraft must avoid. To date, 60 pilots have been cited for violating this protected airspace. The FAA has issued citations to the pilots involved in these intrusions of up to 60 days suspension of their pilots’ licenses.
Prohibited Area P-49, which is six nautical miles (NM) across and from the surface to 5,000 feet mean sea level (MSL), is depicted on sectional and low Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) charts. Prohibited areas, including P-49, do not permit general civil flight operations at any time. TFRs may or may not permit limited flight operations, depending on the situation. TFRs are manifested in several federal aviation regulations, from 91.137 to 91.145, as well as 99.7. TFRs are published in Notice to Airmen or NOTAMs. There are three types of NOTAMS:
- Local (L) NOTAMs “Nice to Know” – local in that only the Flight Service Station (FSS) servicing that area holds that an L NOTAM is informational in nature, not safety-related or regulatory. Grass mowing between the runways would be an example of an LNOTAM.
- Distant (D) NOTAMs are ·’Important to Know” – these are safety-related and are sent to all FSS hourly. D NOTAMs are safety of flight-related but not regulatory. A runway or taxiway temporary closure would be an example of a D NOTAM.
- Finally, Flight Data Center NOTAMs (FDC) – these are “Have to Know” because they do affect safety of flight and are regulatory.
How do you get NOTAMs? Several sources – call FSS at 1-800-WXBRIEF and ask for NOTAMs. Be sure you ask for FDC NOTAMs. Dial up Digital User Access Terminal (DUAT) www.duat.com or www.duats.com and select a full weather briefing or NOTAMs only. You will receive all D and FDC NOTAMs as part of a standard weather briefing. Private weather services will provide NOTAMs just as DUAT will.
Other good sources for pictures of the TFRs include www.eaa.org and www.aopa.org. You do not need to be an EAA or AOPA member to access the excellent information available. Also, you can go directly to the source – www.faa.gov/NTAP. This is the FAA site for the Notice to Airman Publication (NTAP), a paper and electronic listing of all FDC NOTAMs on file. The NTAP is revised every 28 days, but this web site will show day to day changes in the FDC NOTAMs, including TFRs.
The prohibited area and accompanying TFR around the presidential ranch in Crawford work as follows: the six NM wide, 5,000-foot MSL high P-49 may not be entered. The TFR, from the outer edge of P-49 to 30 NM surface to 18,000 feet MSL is activated by FDC NOTAM at the discretion of federal authorities, generally when the president is in residence. The dimensions of the TFR could vary in the future. In the past, pilots were permitted into the TFR only when in radio contact with Waco Approach Control and with a discreet transponder code. Limits were placed on training at airports within the TFR.
The November 28, 2002, issue of the San Antonio aviation sectional chart includes a new depiction of the TFR dimensions, shown as the white area within the dashed blue rim. Note this depiction does not mean the TFR is active, rather the dimensions are shown to assist pilots when the TFR is activated by NOTAM.
Pilots would be wise to contact Gray Approach Control when south and west of P-49 on 120.075, 118.45, or 118.0. Contact Waco Approach on 135.2, 127 .65, or 126.12 when north or east of P-49.
General Aviation flying has changed. Pilots now must check NOTAMS, in some cases just to fly touch and go landing at their home airport! Check before you fly!
