Excuse my ignorance, but how much notice do you get of a Temporary Restricted Area, and in what format is the notice given?
In addition to what
SM4 Pirate has outlined:
- after the NOTAM is issued, a hazard alert broadcast is made on the ATC/FIA freqs., and repeated for the next hour or so
- the NOTAM is specifically directed to aircraft who have submitted flight plans believed to be affected
- Aircraft who have not submitted a flight plan either become aware of the TRA by hazard alert broadcast, or when updating their briefing material enroute with Flightwatch.
Remember, whatever WX and NOTAMS you obtain when flight planning become "stale" as soon as you get them, and can/will be updated as time passes, and new NOTAMS issued. Which is why it is critical to update your briefings enroute.
These sort of TRAs are usually only SFC-1500 AGL, so few aircraft are affected.
In this sort of incident, in the case of media aircraft who know access restrictions of some sort are likely to have been imposed, the expection (and common sense) is that they should ask Flightwatch or ATC what the situation is, or make an enquiry to the emergency service involved. Having said that, knowing what the answer would be, perhaps that is why the question might not be asked.