FAR/AIM: Flight Information Publication Policy

The following is in essence, the statement issued by the FAA Administrator and published in the December 10, 1964, issue of the Federal Register, concerning the FAA policy as pertaining to the type of information that will be published as NOTAMs and in the Aeronautical Information Manual.

1. It is a pilot's inherent responsibility to be alert at all times for and in anticipation of all circumstances, situations, and conditions affecting the safe operation of the aircraft. For example, a pilot should expect to find air traffic at any time or place. At or near both civil and military airports and in the vicinity of known training areas, a pilot should expect concentrated air traffic and realize concentrations of air traffic are not limited to these places.
2. It is the general practice of the agency to advertise by NOTAM or other flight information publications such information it may deem appropriate; information which the agency may from time to time make available to pilots is solely for the purpose of assisting them in executing their regulatory responsibilities. Such information serves the aviation community as a whole and not pilots individually.
3. The fact that the agency under one particular situation or another may or may not furnish information does not serve as a precedent of the agency's responsibility to the aviation community; neither does it give assurance that other information of the same or similar nature will be advertised, nor, does it guarantee that any and all information known to the agency will be advertised.
4. This publication, while not regulatory, provides information which reflects examples of operating techniques and procedures which may be requirements in other federal publications or regulations. It is made available solely to assist pilots in executing their responsibilities required by other publications.

Consistent with the foregoing, it is the policy of the Federal Aviation Administration to furnish information only when, in the opinion of the agency, a unique situation should be advertised and not to furnish routine information such as concentrations of air traffic, either civil or military. The Aeronautical Information Manual will not contain informative items concerning everyday circumstances that pilots should, either by good practices or regulation, expect to encounter or avoid.