FAA to cut funding to Tahoe airport tower, city officials unhappy

Monday, Sept. 25, 2000 | 9:54 a.m.

Mayor Tom Davis criticized the FAA's plans to install a so-called Aviation Weather Surveillance System instead of paying for a person to observe the weather there.

"I am not in favor of it in any way, shape or form," he told the Tahoe Daily Tribune. "We need a human being up there."

But FAA officials defended the move, saying the weather system has been approved by the U.S. Air Force Operational Testing and Evaluation Center.

"It's less expensive," said FAA spokesman Jerry Snyder.

Flying in and out of the airport is considered a major challenge to pilots because of tricky winds that come off the mountains and sudden climate changes.

Since 1994, 12 people have died in small planes that have crashed within a six-mile radius of the airport, located at 6,264 feet.

The FAA plan also could cost the airport its air traffic controllers. Without FAA funding, the city would need to put up an additional $84,000 a year to keep controllers in the tower.

City Manager David Childs said the city would do everything in its power to hold on to the controllers.

"We all have a very big concern to maximize safety at the airport," he said. "We're going to do what we have to do."

Executives at Allegiant Air, the only commercial airline serving South Lake Tahoe, share city officials' concerns.

"We are very concerned about operating into an airport where there is no tower," said airline President Jim Patterson.

Davis and airport manager Rick Jenkins plan to go to Washington, D.C. this week to discuss the issue with Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater and FAA Administrator Jane Garvey.