Commercial Fixed Wing
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 180; Flight Crew Total 18750; Flight Crew Type 1250
Confusion; Distraction; Time Pressure; Workload
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Chart Or Publication; Company Policy
The dispatch paperwork for our flight contained 119 NOTAMs. Those NOTAMs filled 12 1/3 pages of standard 8 1/2 x 11 paper. Connected end-to-end; these NOTAMs stretched to 11 1/3 feet. That is a lot of information; all of which the PIC of a flight is required by 14 CFR 91 to read; understand; absorb; and apply. Oh; and let's not forget that all of it is written in cryptic code developed 70 years ago to accommodate the limited bandwidth of mid-twentieth century teletype technology. Recall the near-disaster event when an Air Carrier Y almost landed on a taxiway occupied by several wide body aircraft at SFO; missing a collision by mere seconds. A finding in that event was that the abundance of NOTAMs; and the fact that they were presented in a format which does not lend to assessment by importance or risk by the flight crew resulted in the crew failing to notice a runway closure; which factored in the event. Thankfully; the industry has developed weather planning and assessment tools in formats which recognize human factors; are intuitive; and easy to apply to pilot decision making. It is well past the time when the FAA should do the same with the NOTAM system. Present NOTAMs graphically when applicable. Move from cryptic coding to an intuitive presentation of information. Prioritize NOTAMs by risk.
Air carrier Captain reported the NOTAM format needs many improvements for safety reasons.