Training and Safety Tip: Maintain airspace awareness
TFRs may appear without warning
Let’s talk about temporary flight restrictions, or TFRs. You know, those big blotches of red that pop up periodically on your iPad’s flight planning software.
What are they?
TFRs can be established for several reasons. Often, they show up in areas above and around large gatherings or natural disasters, to keep other aircraft away from hazards or for national security reasons. They allow law enforcement surveillance and rescue activities to proceed safely and unimpeded. Flight restrictions are often imposed to protect firefighting activities, disaster response, or sporting events.
Space operations like rocket launches or landings also prompt TFRs, so that civilian aircraft remain far away from areas that could contain falling debris.
There are also VIP TFRs, for example, to protect presidential travel. The Washington, D.C., Special Flight Rules Area is the permanent flight restriction that rings the nation’s capital and requires special training for pilots who plan to fly through it.
The most common TFR is the so-called “stadium TFR.” That’s the one that covers MLB, NFL, and NCAA Division I games as well as Nascar races. With somewhere in the ballpark of 2,450 baseball games, 285 NFL games, 1,600 NCAA DI football games, and at least 50 Nascar races scheduled every year, there is a lot of sports activity for pilots to be aware of.
The restricted zones can be announced and planned days in advance, for example ahead of the Super Bowl, or they can be spontaneous if a certain dynamic situation—such as a wildfire or major accident—warrants restricting overflight. TFRs can also expand, move, or be canceled on short notice. An area that was safe and legal to fly through yesterday may today be severely restricted or completely off-limits. Instrument pilots can often pass through TFRs if they are on an active instrument flight rules flight plan, squawking a discreet code, and communicating with air traffic control.
That’s why it’s critical to check the FAA’s list before every flight. (And also, because thorough preflight planning is your obligation as pilot in command under FAR 91.103.) The list and a map are readily available on the FAA’s website, and of course you’ve probably also seen them on your electronic flight bag app. So it’s not like that information is difficult to find.
If you’re a student or fly exclusively under visual flight rules, the most important thing to remember about those big red blotches is to stay away from them. Too many pilots stray into TFRs each year, and the legal consequences are stark. Potential FAA sanctions include suspension or revocation of pilot certificates and fines. Violating a VIP TFR may very well lead to interception by military aircraft. Claiming ignorance won’t work here, because, well, because of 91.103.
TFRs are no joke. Ignore them at your own peril, because civilian pilots are most safely introduced to formation flying without involving the military.
