Airport's navigation gear outage to continue

SANDPOINT — The crash-damaged navigation equipment used for instrument landings at Sandpoint Airport will stay dimmed out this winter.

An antenna array for the distance-measuring equipment was destroyed when a Utah pilot crashed off the north end of the runway in September. Pilots can still rely on a GPS system to help guide landings, although the damaged localizer gave them a lower altitude to decide whether to land or not.

Airport Manager Dave Schuck said the antenna array is no longer in production, which means the equipment it serves will also have to be replaced, resulting in a total cost of about $270,000 that can be covered by insurance.

But damage to the existing system is underscoring how increasingly inadequate the localizer has become since it was installed in 1996.

The development of hangars on the northwest side of the airport has steadily degraded the localizer signal so significantly that the Federal Aviation Administration could soon order the county to take it off line and install a new system, according to Jim Nulle, a senior field service manager for Vaisala, Inc., which maintains the airport’s localizer.

“The system is on the ragged edge of just being shut off by the FAA,” Nulle told county commissioners on Tuesday.

Development of hangars on the northwest side of the airport apparently occurred at a time when the city of Sandpoint and the county were not communicating well.

Nulle said a dual-frequency localizer could be installed to overcome the issue of signal degradation, however, it is a more elaborate system that would add up to $100,000 to the replacement cost. It would also take four to six months to get the new system delivered.

Commission Chairman Cary Kelly questioned whether a ground-based navigation aid should be considered as space-based systems become more common.

“It seems to me the future is satellite, not ground-based,” said Kelly.

However, Nulle said most Sandpoint Airport users have navigational radios as opposed to instrument flight rules-certified GPS systems aboard their aircraft, which can cost upwards of $20,000.

“You have to consider the users,” said Nulle.

Commissioner Mike Nielsen said he has been approached by pilots who urged the county to retain its localizer.

Airport officials have made restoring the navigation system a priority because pilots who land here are a reliable source of income for local hotels, restaurants and tourism.

The airport’s total economic impact was estimated in 2009 to be $33 million.

Although commissioners appeared to agree that system upgrade was warranted, they said there’s no money in the current budget to fund it. And even if the system was replaced without an upgrade, it would take up to six months to get it installed.

“We have no ability to correct this situation immediately this winter regardless,” said Nielsen.

Nielsen moved to further investigate funding options through insurance and the FAA, although Nulle said the FAA has no interest in funding ground-based navigation systems for smaller general aviation airports such as Sandpoint.