Definition
A U.S. Department of Defense web-based system that provides current Notices to Air Missions (NOTAMs) for military and joint-use airfields, as well as access to NOTAMs for civil airports worldwide. Pilots use DINS to retrieve official preflight NOTAM information for flight planning.
Plain English
DINS is a military-run website where pilots look up the latest NOTAMs — short bulletins about closed runways, broken lights, taxiway work, or anything else that affects an airport — before they fly.
Context Anchor
Seen when checking airport information, airport diagrams, and temporary changes that may affect whether a runway, taxiway, light, or procedure is usable.
Derivation
Defense refers to the U.S. Department of Defense, which runs the service. Internet indicates it is delivered through a website rather than a phone briefing. NOTAM stands for Notice to Air Missions — short for the official bulletins about temporary changes at airports or in the airspace system.
Why Pilots Care
Provides quick access to time-sensitive safety information that can affect runway availability, procedures, or airspace restrictions.
Intuition Check
Do not read DINS as a chart or airport diagram itself. It is a source for current notices that may change how the airport information should be used.
Example Sentence 1
Before her cross-country flight into a joint-use field, she pulled the latest NOTAMs from DINS to check for runway closures.
Example Sentence 2
She found a runway closure notice on DINS that changed her choice of alternate airport.