CAA: GA News, "Alabama pulls license on eight small airports"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Sunday, August 11, 2002

State review leaves eight small airports without license 
The Associated Press


BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- Officials refused licenses to eight small
airports in Alabama after an annual review, saying they are unsafe, and
threatened to close them if they don't take care of the problems. 

The Aeronautics Bureau of the Alabama Department of Transportation also
found that 60 percent of the state's general aviation airports have
obstructed runways. 

Airport obstructions can range from trees blocking airport approaches to
brush piles or deer on runways, said John Eagerton IV, chief of the
aeronautics bureau. 

"We like to see the first 1,200 feet off each end of the runway kept
free of obstructions to give pilots a margin of safety if they have an
engine problem or something like that," Eagerton told The Birmingham
News for a Sunday story. 

The bureau licenses 78 public airports, 56 heliports and 125 private
airports. 

Safety problems at the eight airports include a severe drop at the end
of a runway at Chambers Municipal Airport at Lanett and a drainage ditch
across the runway of Atmore Municipal Airport. 

The airports at Union Springs, Camden, Chatom, Pine Hill, Abbeville, Bay
Minette, Lanett and Atmore remain open without a current license. 

But the state has put them on notice that they will be closed if
improvements are not made. 

When DOT's two inspectors find a safety problem, the airport is given
360 days to correct it. An extension of another 360 days can be granted.


Bay Minette and Camden officials are working to correct their safety
problems. State aviation officials have told the remaining six
governments to submit a schedule of corrective work. 

"We are employing a consultant to deal with the problems," Lanett City
Manager Bobby Williams said. "We plan to do everything and take every
action to keep the airport up and running." 

Atmore city officials have applied for a Federal Aviation Administration
grant to improve airport safety. 

A drainage ditch crosses a runway and an 8-foot-tall statue of an angel
in a neighboring cemetery sits in the glide path, said Atmore Mayor
Howard Shell. He said a study conducted for the city proposes covering
the ditch and moving the statue. 

Abbeville City Clerk Jim Giganti said his city has begun work to correct
asphalt and landing approach problems at the city's airport. 

Pine Hill Mayor Harry Mason said trees and a fence are a problem at the
town airport. But he said the trees are on adjoining property and the
barbed-wire fence keeps cows off the runway. 

Age has poked holes in runways, trees have grown up blocking approaches
to runways, runways are poorly marked and runway lights don't always
function properly. 

Most of the airports were built in the 1960s and 1970s in outlying areas
from small towns. 

Land surrounding most of the once-isolated airports has been developed,
taking space that could have been used for runway expansions or
purchased to keep vegetation cut. 

Land surrounding airports now is usually priced beyond what local
governments can afford. 

The state Aeronautics Bureau has a budget of $600,000 a year. That money
is used to match federal grants for airports and to pay for department
operations. 

The FAA usually pays 90 percent of the cost of a typical airport
project. The local government pays 5 percent and asks the Aeronautics
Bureau for the remaining 5 percent. 

"What we have left over does not go very far in helping airports match
federal funds, but we put a priority on public airports," Eagerton said.


   Post your opinion on this story in the CAA General Aviation Forum
http://www.californiaaviation.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?conf=DCConfID2

*****************************************