AIM

4/3/14

Basic Flight Information and ATC Procedures

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

The Federal Aviation Administration is responsible

for insuring the safe, efficient, and secure use of the

Nation’s airspace, by military as well as civil

aviation, for promoting safety in air commerce, for

encouraging and developing civil aeronautics,

including new aviation technology, and for support-

ing the requirements of national defense.

The activities required to carry out these responsibili-

ties include: safety regulations; airspace management

and the establishment, operation, and maintenance of

a civil−military common system of air traffic control

(ATC) and navigation facilities; research and

development in support of the fostering of a national

system of airports, promulgation of standards and

specifications for civil airports, and administration of

Federal grants−in−aid for developing public airports;

various joint and cooperative activities with the

Department of Defense; and technical assistance

(under State Department auspices) to other countries.

Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM)

Basic Flight Information and ATC Procedures

This manual is designed to provide the aviation

community with basic flight information and ATC

procedures for use in the National Airspace System

(NAS) of the United States. An international version

called the Aeronautical Information Publication

contains parallel information, as well as specific

information on the international airports for use by

the international community.
This manual contains the fundamentals required in

order to fly in the United States NAS. It also contains

items of interest to pilots concerning health and

medical facts, factors affecting flight safety, a

pilot/controller glossary of terms used in the ATC

System, and information on safety, accident, and

hazard reporting.
This manual is complemented by other operational

publications which are available via separate

subscriptions. These publications are:

Notices to Airmen publication - A publication

containing current Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs)

which are considered essential to the safety of flight

as well as supplemental data affecting the other

operational publications listed here. It also includes

current Flight Data Center NOTAMs, which are

regulatory in nature, issued to establish restrictions to

flight or to amend charts or published Instrument

Approach Procedures. This publication is issued

every four weeks and is available through subscrip-

tion from the Superintendent of Documents.

The Airport/Facility Directory, the Alaska

Supplement, and the Pacific Chart Supplement −

These publications contain information on airports,

communications, navigation aids, instrument landing

systems, VOR receiver check points, preferred

routes, Flight Service Station/Weather Service

telephone numbers, Air Route Traffic Control Center

(ARTCC) frequencies, part−time surface areas, and

various other pertinent special notices essential to air

navigation. These publications are available upon

subscription from the Aeronautical Navigation

Products (AeroNav) Logistics Group, Federal

Aviation Administration, Glenn Dale, Maryland

20769.

Publication Schedule

Basic or Change

Cutoff Date

for Submission

Effective Date
of Publication

Basic Manual

8/22/13

4/3/14

Change 1

4/3/14

7/24/14

Change 2

7/24/14

3/5/15

Change 3

3/5/15

8/20/15

Basic Manual

8/20/15

2/4/16