An OPSGROUP member recently received the following message after their N-Reg flight plan was rejected by Eurocontrol:

Or in other words ‘computer says no – it seems you’re not RVSM approved…’

The issue stemmed from something called NAARMO – the North American Approvals Registry and Monitoring Organisation.

This is the agency responsible for monitoring the safe and proper use of RVSM throughout North American airspace including the US, Canada and Mexico. They maintain a list of every US-registered commercial and turbine GA aircraft approved to operate in RVSM airspace.

It may come as a surprise, but this same list is used across the pond by Eurocontrol (and its monitoring agency).

OPSGROUP has been advised that every three months, Eurocontrol carry out a flight plan audit using the FAA NAARMO list to identify non-approved aircraft operating in RVSM airspace.

If a registration is flagged, after further consultation, it may be added to a list of aircraft which will have their flight plans rejected. This was the case above.

Herein lies the problem: if your aircraft’s RVSM-status is recorded incorrectly on the US NAARMO list, you may find your flight plans getting bounced over in Europe.

If this happens to you, here’s how to fix it.

Contact NAARMO directly.

Yep, even though it’s a problem in European airspace the solution rests with NAARMO back in the US.

You’ll need to figure out why your aircraft doesn’t appear on the FAA’s database, and get that corrected first, before Eurocontrol can remove your aircraft from their naughty list. Once you get it corrected on the NAARMO database, they are apparently pretty good at sending Eurocontrol a specific notification so they can remove it from their list too (the day they receive the update, or the next working day).

You may not have been intentionally naughty either. There are some quite innocent reasons why this may be case – usually missing information related to airworthiness or other overlooked details.

To get in touch with NAARMO directly, use this form and email it to naarmo@faa.gov.

Of all the hundreds of questions we see in OPSGROUP, one region stands out as the most asked about – the NAT/North Atlantic. So, we made one of our legendary guides, to get everything into one PDF.  It’s called “My first North Atlantic Flight is tomorrow” – and now we’ve updated it for 2018!

Contents:

• 1. What’s different about the NAT?
• 2. Changes in 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015
• 3. NAT Quick Map – Gander boundary, Shanwick boundary
• 4. Routine Flight Example #1 – Brussels to JFK (up at 5.45am)

• 5. Non Routine-Flights: No RVSM, No RNP4, No HF, 1 LRNS, No HLA, No ETOPS, No TCAS, No Datalink – what you can do and where you can go
• 6. Diversion Airports guide: Narsarsuaq, Sondy, Kef, Glasgow, Dublin, Shannon, Lajes, Fro Bay, Goose Bay, Gander, St. Johns
• 7. Airport data
• 8. Overflight permits – routine and special

• 9. Special NAT procedures: Mach number technique, SLOP, Comms, Oceanic Transition Areas, A successful exit, Screwing it up, Departing from Close Airports
• 10. North Atlantic ATC contacts for Shanwick, Gander, Iceland, Bodo, Santa Maria, New York – ATC Phone, Radio Station Phone, AFTN, Satcom, CPDLC Logon codes; and adjoining Domestic ATC units – US, Canada, Europe.
• 11. NAT FPL Codes
• 12. NAT Flight Levels
• 13. Flight Plan Filing Addresses by FIR
• 14. Links, Questions, Guidance

Excerpt from the Routine Flight #1:

 

Buy a copy ($20)

Get it free – join OPSGROUP

To get your copy – there are three options:

1. OPSGROUP Members, login to the Dashboard and find it under “Publications > Guides”. All FSB content like this is included in your membership, or
2. Join OPSGROUP with an individual, team, or department/airline plan, and get it free on joining (along with a whole bunch of other stuff), or
3. Purchase a copy in the Flight Service Store!