São Paulo ATC officials are briefing pilots on Olympic airspace restrictions in a series of free workshops this week. On Monday night, Air Force Major Ubiraci da Silva Pereira emphasized four steps to help general aviation aircraft operators avoid being considered suspect or hostile during the Olympics airspace restrictions: file a complete flight plan, ensure bilateral communications, maintain the assigned transponder code and keepto the authorized flight plan.

Before entering airspace restricted for the Olympics, general aviation aircraft must undergo a security inspection to receive a code required for filing a flight plan. After flight plan approval, pilots must call a special number manned by five ATC officials for a detailed briefing specifying the exact route. Just in case, pilots were instructed on how to behave if intercepted.

There are still kinks, as the security inspection and flight plan might take three hours or more at airports that limit ramp parking time to two hours. Round-the-clock restrictions in Rio include closing the main general aviation airport, Jacarepaguá, next to the Olympic Village, though in the cities that host only soccer games, restrictions are around game times only.

At Monday’s session at Anhembi-Morumbi University's civil aviation school, coordinated by helicopter pilots' association Abraphe, questions focused on maintaining normal operations during the Games.