# Temporary no-fly zones: Please explain **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 11, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-no-fly-zones-please-explain/588570 "2011-07-11T01:09:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-no-fly-zones-please-explain/588570/1 "2011-07-11T01:09:30Z")
So I’m drifting around the web and somehow I wind up on[this paranoia/conspiracy site.](http://beforeitsnews.com/story/730/999/12_Things_That_The_Mainstream_Media_Is_Being_Strangely_Quiet_About_Right_Now.html) The last item on his list is : > [@](#): > > Over the past week over 40 temporary “no fly zones” have been declared by the FAA. This is very highly unusual. Nobody seems to know exactly why this is happening. Smells like BS to me. The list he refers to is here:[FAA TFR List.](http://tfr.faa.gov/tfr2/list.html) Is it really unusual for the FAA to declare this many temporary no-fly zones in one week? I can’t see anything that seems suspicious or threatening on the list. Surely we have some dopers connected with the aviation industry who can help me rub this guy’s nose in some reality. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-no-fly-zones-please-explain/588570/2 "2011-07-11T01:19:23Z")
Note that at least some of them are due to hazards (fighting wildfires). ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-no-fly-zones-please-explain/588570/3 "2011-07-11T01:28:56Z")
One of them is near Roswell! If you live near there, listen up for five distinct tones and make sure you duct tape your windows so an exceptionally loud tuba blast doesn’t shatter th… _TRANSMISSION TERMINATED_ ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-no-fly-zones-please-explain/588570/4 "2011-07-11T01:46:19Z")
No, it’s a normal occurrence. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-no-fly-zones-please-explain/588570/5 "2011-07-11T02:36:40Z")
Sorry, didn’t explain. They’re not “no fly zones” but rather temporary zones that requires radar control through the area. The list didn’t look any more abnormal than any other summer period. There are air shows and other events that the FAA doesn’t want people wandering through without prior acknowledgment. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-no-fly-zones-please-explain/588570/6 "2011-07-11T02:38:53Z")
Pretty typical if you ask me - the one by Gary, IN is for the annual airshow and occurs… get this… annually. It’s a big country. No fly zones are declared for visiting VIPs, security reasons (over the Superbowl, for example), military training exercises, really bad accidents, bad fires… No fly zones can vary in how “no-fly” they are. For example, in some instances it really is no flying at all. In other cases, scheduled commercial aviation (the airlines, basically) is permitted to continue. Some of this stuff is just like the security and motorcade for the president when he’s traveling by ground. Some of it is like the police shutting down several lanes of a freeway for a bad accident. Some of it is like re-routing traffic for a sporting event or concert. The difference is that the thing is in the air instead of on the ground. ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-no-fly-zones-please-explain/588570/7 "2011-07-11T18:04:59Z")
You can click on any of those Notices to Airmen (NOTAMS) and find out what they are in place for. Some are re-issuings of old ones, such as the security restriction on flaying over the Disney theme parks, which date back to 2009. Some are for new events, like the one that’s for ordnance disposal in New Hampshire. So both parts of the conspiracy fearmongering - that 40 were issued this week and that “no-one” knows why they are being issued - are easily disproved by their own link. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-no-fly-zones-please-explain/588570/8 "2011-07-11T19:11:27Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > No fly zones are declared for visiting VIPs, security reasons (over the Superbowl, for example), military training exercises, really bad accidents, bad fires… Organizers of high-powered model rocketry launches, such as the annual [LDRS](http://www.ldrs30.org/) meet, also obtain them; you don’t want aircraft flying over that big empty space in the middle of Kansas, when the rockets they’re launching are capable of reaching airliner altitudes. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-no-fly-zones-please-explain/588570/9 "2011-07-12T00:58:17Z")
Didn’t someone fly a small plane into a football stadium in Florida back around 1980? Just after a game had ended, or else it would have taken out quite a few fans… Plus someone did fly a plane into the White House during the Clinton(?) years. You can’t rely on common sense to keep aircraft away. Hence the notifications during various events. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-no-fly-zones-please-explain/588570/10 "2011-07-12T03:30:52Z")
[Maryland](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Stadium_(Baltimore)#Airplane_crash), not Florida. 1976. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-no-fly-zones-please-explain/588570/11 "2011-07-12T10:59:00Z")
And yes, someone flew a small Cessna into the White House during the Clinton years. Killed the pilot, but did little other damage. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-no-fly-zones-please-explain/588570/12 "2011-07-12T13:58:09Z")
> [@paperbackwriter](#): > > … the security restriction on flaying over the Disney theme parks, which date back to 2009… Flaying was allowed over the parks before then? That doesn’t seem conducive to a family-friendly atmosphere. ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-no-fly-zones-please-explain/588570/13 "2011-07-12T15:17:08Z")
I didn’t say they were. I said this is a re-issuing of a restriction that started in 2009. Prior to that, there may have been other temporary restrictions over the parks, but with different boundaries, etc. There is also a _permanent_ flight prohibition on all flights below 3000 feet within 3 miles of WDW. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-no-fly-zones-please-explain/588570/14 "2011-07-12T15:36:15Z")
I think he was commenting on your spelling error. A no flaying order is much different than a no fly one 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-no-fly-zones-please-explain/588570/15 "2011-07-12T15:42:58Z")
Yes, it was just a silly joke on a typo that conjured up a weird mental image for me. Sorry for the confusion. ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temporary-no-fly-zones-please-explain/588570/16 "2011-07-12T22:14:17Z")
Ah. I missed that extra “a” in both posts. For the record, I never say any flaying in my visits to WDW, and I assume any flaying of cast members is confined to the backstage area. 😉