February 11, 2010
U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Aviation Administration
Aeronautical Information Manual Official Guide to Basic Flight Information and ATC Procedures
An electronic version of this publication is on the internet at http://www.faa.gov/atpubs
AIM
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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 National Aeronautical Chart-ing Office (NACO) Distribution Division, Federal Aviation Administration, Riverdale, Maryland 20737.
Publication Schedule
Basic or Change  Cutoff Date for Submission  Effective Date of Publication
Basic Manual  8/27/09  2/11/10
Change 1  2/11/10  8/26/10
Change 2  8/26/10  3/10/11
Change 3  3/10/11  8/25/11
Basic Manual  8/25/11  2/09/12
Basic Flight Information
Flight Information Publication Policy
The following is in essence, the statement issued by the FAA Administrator and published in the December 10, 1964, issue of the Federal Register, concerning the FAA policy as pertaining to the type of information that will be published as NOTAMs and in the Aeronautical Information Manual.
a.It is a pilot’s inherent responsibility to be alert at all times for and in anticipation of all circumstances, situations, and conditions affecting the safe operation of the aircraft. For example, a pilot should expect to find air traffic at any time or place. At or near both civ-il and military airports and in the vicinity of known training areas, a pilot should expect concentrated air traffic and realize concentrations of air traffic are not limited to these places.