Jag vet att vissa okontrollerade flygplatser kan ha fler operationer per dag än många kontrollerade flygplatser. Det fick mig att undra hur processen är för bytet till en tornad, kontrollerad flygplats. Jag vet att ett kontrolltorn nyligen byggdes (2005) vid Provo, UT (KPVU), som är den näst busigste flygplatsen i Utah.
Jag hittade äntligen en AOPA-artikeln som diskuterar krav för ett kontrolltorn.
De säger:
The FAA has the authority to establish control towers or discontinue control tower services through the National Airspace System when activity levels and safety considerations merit such action.
För att öppna ett nytt torn måste det finnas ett positivt fördelförhållande-förhållande (vilket är en komplicerad sak att beräkna). FAA betalar vanligtvis för kostnaden, och här är de kriterier som de listar:
Criteria
According to FAR Part 170.13, the following criteria, along with general facility establishment standards, must be met before an airport can qualify for a control tower:
The airport, whether publicly or privately owned, must be open to and available for use by the public as defined in the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982;
The airport must be part of the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems;
The airport owners/authorities must have entered into appropriate assurances and covenants to guarantee that the airport will continue in operation for a long enough period to permit the amortization of the control tower investment;
The FAA must be furnished appropriate land without cost for construction of the control tower; and
The airport must meet the benefit-cost ratio criteria specified herein utilizing three consecutive FAA annual counts and projections of future traffic during the expected life of the tower facility. (An FAA annual count is a fiscal year or a calendar year activity summary. Where actual traffic counts are unavailable or not recorded, adequately documented FAA estimates of the scheduled and nonscheduled activity may be used.)
The FARs specifically state that an airport is not guaranteed to receive a control tower, even if the airport meets all the criteria listed above. This is where the contract tower program comes in. The FAA, responding to an airport sponsor's request for an air traffic control tower, can elect to establish a contract tower. The FAA can either elect to pay for the service in its entirety, or enter into a cost-sharing agreement with the sponsor, depending on the results of the benefit-cost analysis. Typically, the airport sponsor is responsible for 10 percent of the cost of construction and operations.
För beräkning av fördelar och kostnader använder de följande kriterier:
Site-specific activity forecasts are used to estimate three categories of tower benefits:
- Benefits from prevented collisions between aircraft.
- Benefits from other prevented accidents.
- Benefits from reduced flying time.
Explicit dollar values are assigned to the prevention of fatalities and injuries and time saved.
Tower establishment costs include:
- Annual operating costs: staffing, maintenance, equipment, supplies, and leased services.
- Investment costs: facilities, equipment, and operational start-up.
Artikeln innehåller mycket mer information, tillsammans med länkar till relevanta bestämmelser mm.
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