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United States Pilots Association |
This letter was sent from the NMPA to the FAA regarding the closure of the ABQ NDB 35 approach. I urge all ABQ area pilots to send your own email to Ron Sanders, protesting the closure of an NDB approach in the Albuquerque area. Send it to Ron A.Sanders@faa.gov, or call him at 817 222 4133.
Thank you,
Bob Worthington, President, NMPA
Mr. Ron A Sanders 7 March 2006
Manager, Flight Procedures Office
FAA Southwest Region
Ft Worth, TX 76193
Dear Mr. Sanders,
As President of the New Mexico Pilots Association I have been asked to convince the FAA to keep an NDB Approach to the Albuquerque International Airport. Doing away with the Isleta NDB approach to the ABQ runway 35 without any alternative NDB approach is doing the Albuquerque General Aviation community a grave disservice.
The following facts have been relayed to me. It is known that the FAA is doing away with NDB approaches at airports which have alternative instrument approaches. The Isleta NDB approach was not on this initial list of NDB sites to be decommissioned. The NDB is located on land being developed into an area named Mesa del Sol, a project favored by the city. Originally the developer had an agreement to finance the relocation of this NDB site. Now all the developer has to do is pay for the dismantling. The original plan was to relocate the NDB to a parcel of land on the ABQ airport. This changed when American Airlines stated that it did not need the NDB approach to satisfy any additional ground-based navaids to land at ABQ. It was then the FAA decided to just eliminate the NDB.
Herein is the problem. Albuquerque has a total population of some 765,000 people, while the state has a population of 1,875,000 people. This means that 41% of the state’s citizens live in the Albuquerque area. In the Albuquerque area there are also 1322 registered “N”numbered aircraft. These metropolitan area pilots fly an average of 3-5 NDB approaches each day at ABQ. This adds up to 1100-1800 NDB approaches a year. Thus, if the NDB approaches are seen as obsolete why does ABQ have so many approaches being flown each day?
The answer is rather simple. First, it is because the General Aviation fleet is 50 years old. Most aircraft do not have IFR GPS equipment on board, but they do have an ADF for NDB approaches. There are several flight schools located at ABQ and Double Eagle II (AEG) with many more Certified Flight Instructors teaching at the smaller airports outside of Albuquerque such as Mid Valley, Belen, Sandia Airpark, and Moriarty. Most of these schools and instructors do not have the latest IFR certified GPS equipment in the training aircraft; it is far too expensive to purchase, install, and keep current with data disc subscriptions.
But second, and most important, is that the ABQ NDB is the only NDB approach within almost 100 nautical miles of ABQ. The next closest NDB approach is in Taos which is 93 NM away. When one takes into account the pilot population using the above named airports, it comes down to the reality that the only NDB which serves almost half the state’s total population is being demolished.
Now I do believe that the FAA has considered alternatives to using the ABQ NDB. Unfortunately the suggestions do not come close to being either fair or safe for GA pilots. One suggestion is to train at Taos. Has anyone calculated how long it would take a GA pilot to fly from ABQ to Taos (SKX)? About one hour. To fly to Taos and back would require the pilot to fly an additional two hours. Now add the cost of the plane at $75-$100 an hour and the CFII at $25-$35 an hour. To train on NDB approaches at SKX would cost a pilot an extra $200-$270; just to get to the airport which has an NDB. Is this a reasonable consideration?
Another suggestion is to fly practice approaches using the decommissioned, but operational NDB approach at Santa Fe (SAF). There are two major safety concerns with this thinking. First there are no approach plates for this approach since it no longer exists. Second even if someone were to get an obsolete plate; teaching a student pilot to fly an approach that no longer exists using approach procedures that were not legal is neither a safe nor wise way to train pilots. Does the CFII tell the SFA tower the plane is executing an ILS 2 or a Localizer 2 practice approach yet tells the student pilot flying the plane to actually fly a no longer valid NDB 2 approach? What about doing this under actual IMC conditions? This certainly is not a safe solution to no NDB at ABQ. Does the FAA condone training pilots using illegal approaches? I don’t think so.
The new FAA requirements for instrument check rides are for pilots to demonstrate proficiency in all IFR equipment on board their aircraft. More GA planes have ADF than IFR certified GPS so more instrument pilots will be trained for and using NDB than GPS approaches. And it will take some time before this fact reverses.
Another consideration. Many NM pilots fly south into Mexico which still uses NDBs for both navigation and instrument approaches. NM pilots who fly into foreign countries must still retain NDB proficiency. Since NM borders Mexico our pilots fly south of the border quite often.
Lastly, I believe that the FAA has already approved an exception to the NDB decommissioning policy by retaining an NDB approach at San Angelo (SJT), TX because there were no other NDB approaches within 50 miles.
I hope I have presented a persuasive argument for retaining some type of NDB approach in the Albuquerque area. The next question is what and where? The ABQ Airport still has the land available to house the NDB equipment. So one answer is to locate another NDB placement and retain an NDB approach at ABQ.
A second response is to utilize the existing LOM at AEG for the creation of a new NDB approach. I believe that navaid was used as a FAF for a GPS approach a few years back.
On behalf of NM pilots I hope that the FAA will seriously consider keeping an NDB approach in an Albuquerque airport. We are convinced that the lack of an NDB approach in the Albuquerque area will create an adverse situation for local GA pilots. It is our belief that doing away with an NDB approach hampers safe IFR training along with creating a severe financial handicap for pilots and flight schools.
Thank you,
Dr. Bob Worthington
President, New Mexico Pilots Association
ABQ FSDO Aviation Safety Counselor
1136 Cave Springs Trail
Las Cruces, NM 88011
505 522 6785 rworthin@zianet.com