Sat, Jul 09, 2005
Frees Up Money For Better Technology
As of Thursday, 216 NDB approaches
have gone the way of the dodo. They're kaput. They're ex-NDBs. In
short, they no longer exist.
The FAA decommissioned them after careful coordination with AOPA
and the aviation community. "And that's a good thing," said Randy
Kenagy, AOPA director of advanced technology, "because it means the
FAA can stop spending money on something few use and will have more
funds for GPS-WAAS approaches to general aviation airports."
In fact, once the remaining obsolete NDB procedures are
decommissioned later this year, the FAA will free some $8 million a
year to use on more modern technology. That's because the agency
will no longer have to spend money to repeatedly flight-check the
approaches, maintain equipment, and update charts. (The FAA has NOT
turned off any NDBs, however.)
AOPA and AOPA members helped the FAA decide which NDB approach
procedures to cancel, by identifying procedures that duplicated
other approaches or were no longer being used.
The FAA proposed decommissioning a
total of 479 procedures, (the next set of procedures will be
decommissioned in September). AOPA told the agency that 60 NDB
approaches should be saved because they provided the lowest
minimums or because they were important to members in the area. The
FAA retained 35 of the 60 but offered no rationale for canceling
the remaining 25.
AOPA will go back to the FAA on at least five of the approaches
the FAA plans to cancel because they deliver better access with
lower minimums than the remaining approaches at the affected
airports.
The 216 NDB approach procedures will be officially
decommissioned at 0901Z July 7 when the new editions of US terminal
procedures ("approach plates") become effective. The remaining 228
procedures will be decommissioned when the next set of terminal
procedures becomes effective September 1st.
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