Words for: ADM & Risk Management
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NAVAID is the abbreviation for navigational aid.
A NAVAID is any tool or signal — usually a radio transmitter on the ground or a satellite — that helps pilots know where they are or where they're going.
Any ground-based or space-based facility, transmitter, or visual device that provides point-to-point guidance information or position data to aircraft in flight. NAVAIDs include systems such as VOR, NDB, ILS, DME, TACAN, and GPS satellite signals, as well as visual aids like approach lighting and .
Seen in instrument flying, preflight briefings, flight service information, route planning, and reports about whether navigation facilities are working or out of service.
A shortened blend of 'navigation' and 'aid.' 'Navigation' comes from the Latin navigare, 'to sail or steer a ship.' An 'aid' is simply something that helps. So a NAVAID is literally a 'navigation helper' — anything that assists a pilot in finding their way.
NAVAIDs are the backbone of instrument flying. When a pilot can't see the ground, NAVAIDs tell them where they are, what course to fly, and how to line up safely with a runway. Knowing which NAVAIDs are working — and which are out of service — is essential for safe IFR flight.
Do not read “aid” here as general help or advice. In FAA use, a NAVAID is a specific navigation source, facility, signal, or system that provides information an aircraft can use to navigate.
Before departure, the pilot checked NOTAMs to see whether any NAVAIDs along the route were out of service.
FSS reported that several NAVAIDs along the airway were temporarily out of service.