FAA Expands “No Fly” Area for Airlines in Wake of Malaysia Airlines (MH17)

Even before Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down on Thursday, the FAA had issued a notice prohibiting U.S. Airlines from flying over the Crimean region of Ukraine and adjacent areas of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Now the agency has expanded the area of “No Fly” for the Airlines.

The restriction, Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) #113, was issued in April as a Notice to Airman (NOTAM) 4/7667, and has now been expanded in the Eastern Ukraine in the wake of the downing of Malaysia Airlines MH17.



According to the language, the NOTAM applies to:

1) All U.S.air carriers and U.S.commercial operators;
2) All persons exercising the privileges of an airman certificate
Issued by the FAA, except such persons operating U.S. registered
Aircraft for a foreign air carrier; and
3) All operators of U.S. registered civil aircraft, except where
The operator of such aircraft is a foreign air carrier.

The expansion of this FAA imposed “no-fly zone” for the airlines prohibits U.S. flight operations in the SIMFEROPOL (UKFV) and DNEPROPETROVSK (UKDV) Flight Information Regions (FIRs) pictured above.

An announcement from the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) indicated that, “No scheduled U.S. airlines are currently flying routes through this airspace.” The message to pilots of the nation’s largest pilot union went on to say that, “Transport Canada has advised ALPA that although they are not issuing a formal notice, they are working with individual Canadian carriers operating in the region to ensure safe routing is maintained.”

Addressing concerns for its pilot members, ALPA recommended that crews operating near this region of the world closely monitor the flight planning paperwork issued from their respective airline’s dispatchers for this and related information.