FAA changes would affect Henderson

Benjamin Grove and Greg Harman

Thursday, June 22, 2000 | 11:29 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday proposed changes that would make small airports, including Henderson Executive Airport, subject to the same safety rules as larger ones.

Current regulations require large airports that service planes with 30 seats or more to meet certain specifications on runway maintenance, taxiway pavement, marking and lighting and preparedness for emergency. The airports must have a fire crew at the ready, for example.

Now the FAA is proposing that 40 smaller airports with 10- to 30-seat planes follow the same rules. That includes two airports in Nevada: Henderson Executive and the Winnemucca Municipal Airport in Northern Nevada.

Henderson officials said $12 million in improvements already are set for completion in the next three years that will allow the airport to comply with the new rules. Projects include new runway configurations, taxiways and airfield lighting, Clark County Department of Aviation spokeswoman Hilarie Grey said.

Grey said the city of Henderson may locate a new fire station near the airport that likely would bring it into fire safety compliance, Grey said.

Airport officials are hoping to create a more "high-class" atmosphere that also would be able to handle overflow traffic from McCarran International Airport, she said.

"It's not a lot of traffic right now, but we're improving it, hoping to expand it," Grey said.

Henderson handled 100,000 passengers in 1999, compared with about 32 million at McCarran.

The FAA has the power to make the regulation change within a year following a 90-day public comment period, an FAA spokeswoman said. That public comment period ends Sept. 19. The small airports would be given "ample time" to apply, FAA officials said.

"A lot of this has to do with safety standards to assure that airports comply with current industry practices," the FAA's Tammy Jones said.