James Chan wrote:if the Danger Area is notam'd as Active then it's Active unless it's Inactive in which case, whilst it is still technically a Danger Area and is still notam'd as active it's actually not active at that particular moment and so you may cross without a clearance as if it isn't there. Although it is. Okaaaay.
Why can't they just keep it simple and stupid:
- If it's active then you must ask if you can enter.
- If it's inactive then you must be able to use the airspace without asking.
I think it is fairly simple. But your binary choice doesn’t address the OPs question or all of the possible states of the DA.
If it is NOTAMed Active then you must ask if you can enter.
If it is NOT NOTAMed Active then it is safe to assume that it is inactive and there should be no need to ask permission.
But the OPs point was that it was NOTAMed Active but he decided to call the number and check if that was still the case. He was given fairly clear advice that it was NOTAMed Active but give them a call when nearby. Which he did and was told it was inactive (should have been “not active”) but as they said it was inactive they couldn’t give a crossing service, as there was nothing to cross.
Had it been Active they could have then checked if it was safe to cross and provided a crossing service.
Once it is NOTAMed as Active the only way you will find out if it is actually not active is to ask when in the vicinity.
Be careful about asking for simplicity - the simplest solution for all parties would be to NOTAM it as active. And then do nothing else, and provide no opportunity for crossing/checking etc. Regardless of whether it was actually being used or not. I’m often amazed this doesn’t happen now considering how risk averse we are becoming as a nation.