Definition
The FAA office, located at FAA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., that issues regulatory NOTAMs covering changes to charts, instrument approach procedures, airways, and other items of a regulatory nature affecting flight operations within U.S. airspace.
Plain English
An FAA office in Washington, D.C. that publishes the official notices pilots must follow when something on a chart or approach procedure changes.
Context Anchor
You will see FDC in preflight planning when reviewing FDC NOTAMs before a flight.
Derivation
‘Flight Data’ refers to the published flight information (charts, procedures, airways) the office maintains, and ‘Center’ indicates the central FAA facility responsible for issuing changes to that data nationally.
Why Pilots Care
Pilots must review FDC NOTAMs because they contain mandatory regulatory changes that can affect the safety and legality of a flight.
Intuition Check
FDC is not a local airport office or control tower. In FDC NOTAMs, it points to an official FAA source for flight information changes that pilots must check and follow.
Example Sentence 1
During preflight, the pilot reviewed the FDC NOTAMs and saw an amendment to the ILS approach at the destination airport.
Example Sentence 2
An FDC NOTAM from the Flight Data Center temporarily closed a victor airway due to military operations.