A stadium TFR is in effect for a college football game. When does the restriction apply?

The stadium temporary flight restriction is a standing restriction rather than one issued for a particular event, which is why the timing is fixed and predictable. It applies to certain sporting events in stadiums seating 30,000 or more — major league baseball, National Football League, NCAA Division One football, and major motor speedway events — and runs from one hour before the scheduled event time until one hour after it ends, within a three nautical mile radius up to 3,000 feet AGL. The buffer hours are the point: crowds are densest arriving and departing, so the restriction covers exactly the periods when people are massed outside the stadium as well as inside it. A pilot working near a stadium therefore cannot reason from whether play is under way. Actual attendance on the day is irrelevant too — the seating capacity threshold is what brings the venue within the rule.

The stadium restriction runs from one hour before the scheduled event until one hour after it ends, covering the arrival and departure periods when crowds outside the stadium are densest.

A standing temporary flight restriction applies to stadiums seating 30,000 or more during qualifying sporting events, within three nautical miles up to 3,000 feet AGL, from one hour before the scheduled event until one hour after it ends.

One Hour Either Side of the game. The crowd outside is the reason, not the play inside.

Remember the geometry with the timing: three nautical miles and 3,000 feet AGL. Both are commonly tested alongside the one-hour buffers.

• •Reasoning from whether play is under way
• •Using actual attendance instead of seating capacity
• •Forgetting the restriction extends an hour past the end of the event