We are excited to share that ForeFlight’s development team recently deployed technology that can recognize missing or corrupted graphical TFRs that are delivered via the NOTAM system. The new tool alerts ForeFlight’s TFR Desk team members, who then take immediate action to correct the TFR graphic and distribute it quickly to ForeFlight customers.
As a pilot, you rely on web, mobile, and data-link apps and services to display accurate and up-to-date TFR information. And, as Tyson Weihs, ForeFlight’s co-founder and CEO, explains: “From time-to-time, the NOTAM system publishes TFRs without the shape information necessary to depict them. We built the monitoring systems and established the TFR Desk so that pilots can have the highest-quality TFR information as quickly as possible. TFR incursions are still an important issue for the aviation community, and we are doing our part to help.”
In addition to identifying and creating or correcting TFR information, ForeFlight notifies the AOPA’s regulatory affairs team of the discrepancy, who then works with the FAA to correct the information in the NOTAM system. These corrections then make their way back to users via other channels, such as the ADS-B data link system.
The team will continue to improve the tool’s capability to also recognize misshapen TFR files. This effort helps us to quickly distribute the most accurate information and minimize the risk that a pilot will violate a TFR area.