NGA Will Stop Producing Charts For Hawaii, Caribbean In October

Fall isn't far away... especially for pilots planning to fly to the Caribbean and over Hawaii, according to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.

One would assume official government air charts would be readily available for those pilots... but come October, you might be wrong. AOPA says the FAA has yet to commit to producing replacements after the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) stops publishing Flight Information Publications (FLIP) and other popular charts in October.

"The FAA must take action to provide equivalent products, otherwise there will be no publicly available government source of aeronautical information for Hawaii, the Caribbean, and Central and South America," according to Melissa Rudinger, AOPA vice president of regulatory affairs.  This was reflected in a recent letter to the FAA.

The NGA, under the Department of Defense (DOD), announced in 2004 it would stop selling the charts. AOPA convinced the the DOD to take public comments on the issue, however, and the group says several hundred pilots were successful in getting the government to implement a phased approach for the discontinuance of en route charts, supplemental flight information, and instrument approach procedures.

Over the past two years, AOPA has continued to advocate a transition plan. Congress has also weighed in... but the FAA still refuses to act.

The territories fall under what is known as the US Flight Information Region and the FAA has a legal responsibility for providing the navigation products to ensure safety and efficiency.

FMI: Read AOPA's Air Traffic Service Brief