Agency Will Maintain Current Air Safety Arrangement

The FAA has dropped plans for the so-called "Pearson Box" near Vancouver, Washington's Pearson Airfield that would have limited operations such as touch-and-go practice at the airport. The move could have affected flight schools and other aviation-related businesses operating at the airport. The FAA issued official notification this week that it would allow Pearson to continue operating using its current air safety guidelines, under which the region's representative in Congress says it has been safely operating for years.

The move was welcomed by Congresswoman Jamie Herrera Beutler, who's district includes the airport. “This resolution brings welcome relief for the local pilots, and the local businesses and workers supported by the economic activity from Pearson Air Field,” she said.  “I appreciate the FAA’s willingness to reassess the safety and economic implications of its proposal, and to consider more reasonable solutions.  Our community was facing a big challenge, and it’s my job to ensure federal agencies are serving our community and helping solve those challenges.”

The Congresswoman said she and her staff have been closely involved in this issue over the past year, from organizing the initial stakeholder meetings to determine next steps, to communicating directly with the FAA to delay the Pearson Box rule and come to a swift resolution.

The "Pearson Box" would have been a one-by-eight mile area west of Portland International Airport in which only one airplane at a time would have been allowed to operate.

FMI: www.faa.gov, http://herrerabeutler.house.gov