Terms of Reference

“Aircraft” means the airframe, crewmembers, or both.

“Altitude” means indicated altitude mean sea level (MSL), flight level (FL), or both.

“Automated services” means those services delivered via an automated system (that is, without human interaction) (for example, flight plans, Notices to Airmen [NOTAM], interactive maps, computer‐generated text‐to‐speech messages, short message service, or email).

“Feet” means MSL unless otherwise stated.

“Flight plan area (FPA)” is the geographical area assigned to a flight service station (FSS) to establish primary responsibility for services that may include search and rescue (SAR) for visual flight rules (VFR) aircraft, issuance of NOTAMs, pilot briefings, in-flight services, broadcast services, emergency services, flight data processing, international operations, and aviation weather services. Consolidated FSS facilities may combine FPAs into larger areas of responsibility (AOR).

“Form” means a paper record or an electronic equivalent that must be retained in accordance with FAA directives.

“History files” means one or more digital or paper data repositories that must be retained in accordance with FAA directives.

“May” or “need not” means a procedure is optional.

“Miles” means nautical miles (NM) unless otherwise specified and means statute miles in conjunction with visibility.

“Must” means a procedure is mandatory.

“Must not” means a procedure is prohibited.

“Pertinent” means relating directly and significantly to the matter at hand.

The horizontal limit of pertinent meteorological and aeronautical information is considered to be 25 miles on either side of the proposed route. However, when determining the pertinence of information, specialists and automated systems should take into account the dynamic aspect of weather, aircraft performance, and type of flight. Conditions occurring or expected to occur more than 25 miles from the route must be provided if there is a potential for the safety of the flight to be compromised.

The vertical limits of pertinent meteorological and aeronautical information are considered to be:

The climb out and approach paths.

For flights below FL 180: from the surface to 5,000 feet above the proposed en route altitude.

For flights at or above FL 180: from 5,000 feet above and below the proposed en route altitude.

“Sector,” when used in conjunction with FSS functions, means a specifically described geographic area assigned a National Airspace Data Interchange Network (NADIN) address.

“Shared database” is a database within an FSS operational system that is accessible by specialists in other geographical locations.

“Should” means a procedure is recommended.

“Specialist‐provided services” means those services delivered directly by a flight service specialist via ground/ground communication, air/ground communication, in person, or technology (for example, speech‐to‐text, email, or short message service).

“Tie‐in facility,” for the purposes of this order, designates the responsible facility/sector for sending/receiving flight plans, flight notification messages, and performing SAR duties for the listed location.

“Time,” when used for air traffic control operational activities, is the hour and the minute(s) in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Change to the next minute is made at the minute plus 30 seconds, except time checks are given to the nearest quarter minute. Specialists must state the word “local” or the time zone equivalent when local time is given during radio and telephone communications; the term “Zulu” may be used to denote UTC.

“Transmit” means to send data via NADIN or Weather Message Switching Center Replacement (WMSCR) to an outside recipient or to process data internally within an operational system that shares a global database.

“Will” means futurity, not a requirement for application of a procedure.

Plural words include the singular.

Singular words include the plural.

The annotation PHRASEOLOGY denotes the prescribed words or phrases to be used in communications. Phraseology, as depicted in this order, is mandatory unless an exception is explicitly identified.

The annotation EXAMPLE provides a sample of the way the prescribed phraseology associated with the preceding paragraph(s) will be used. If the preceding paragraph(s) does (do) not include specifically prescribed phraseology, the example merely denotes suggested words and/or phrases that may be used in communications.