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In the US N.A.S., the NOTAM system is a constant stream of notices getting created, updated, and expired, on topics of airports (big and small), navaids, airspaces, and more. They frequently use awkward terminology and obscure acronyms.

Yet I cannot remember the last time I saw a typo or mistake in a NOTAM.
This leads me to believe they are not just manually typed in by individual creators across the nation.

What kind of process is there for the creation of NOTAMs that provides this extreme consistency and high quality, and total lack of typos or mistakes?

(the "worst" NOTAM mistake I ever found was a TFR that was centered on a VOR, but the VOR had been shutdown about a year earlier. As soon as I brought it to the attention of the local office, it was updated.)

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Most NOTAMs at commercial airports will be submitted by Airport Operations agents/officers. These are a team of airport employees responsible for ensuring the airport is in compliance with FAR PART 139. They are trained specifically for the task of submitting NOTAMs. This team performs continuous inspections of the airfield and will submit a NOTAM for any item/condition out of compliance; lights not working, unreadable or incorrect signage, obscured surface markings. They are also aware of all construction and planned construction projects and will submit NOTAMs prior to the start of each project.

This is a frequent task for Airport Ops, so they are trained and well prepared by their superiors. However, despite their careful attention, they are human and still make mistakes on occasion. Each submitted NOTAM is then reviewed by Flight Services before they are published. But they too are human, unless they have automation that I am unaware of, and can still overlook a typo.

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As long as the database isn't down NOTAM's are managed centrally and its the job of flight service to make sure they are correct. You dont just submit it willy nilly and it gets published. To file a NOTAM you either call flight services or submit it online. If you call the briefer to to file a NOTAM its their job to make sure its correct, if you file it online the system presumably sanitizes it and makes sure it is correct.

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  • $\begingroup$ It sounds like you're describing a PIREP rather than a NOTAM? I guess there are a few NOTAMs you can file with a briefer, but that's not the typical way to report Runway issues or closures or TFRs or other common NOTAM issues. $\endgroup$
    – abelenky
    Jan 12 at 21:26
  • $\begingroup$ @abelenky Pilots can indeed file NOTAMS (see the link) as can airport managers and other individuals that need to report relevant information. $\endgroup$
    – Dave
    Jan 13 at 0:40

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