FAA approves instrument landing system for NLV

Dan Kulin

Thursday, Sept. 11, 2003 | 11:21 a.m.

Plans to add an instrument landing system at the North Las Vegas Airport that helps pilots land in bad weather have received the green light from the Federal Aviation Administration, officials announced Wednesday.

While the instrument landing system will probably not be used very often to help pilots navigate through poor visibility in sunny Southern Nevada, the system is expected to be used extensively for pilot training.

An earlier FAA report estimated the system could prompt an additional 50,000 takeoffs and landings at the airport annually. The airport had about 230,000 takeoffs and landings last year.

Some neighbors are unhappy with the coming system, which could be operational as soon as April, because they say with more air traffic comes more noise.

But airport and flight school officials say the system will allow trainees to stay closer to home, and should make the airport safer because the system will tell pilots whether they are making a proper approach.

North Las Vegas Mayor Michael Montandon said that while he doesn't think the increase in air traffic will be too noticeable, he thinks airport neighbors should expect the airport to grow.

"We're in a growing community. You can't move next to any of our infrastructure and not expect it to grow," he said.

In a statement and documents released Wednesday, the FAA announced it found the system would have no significant environmental impact on the area, and approved the construction and operation of the system.

Mike Loghides, airport program administrator for the Clark County Aviation Department, said the FAA report was the last major hurdle that could have stopped the system from being installed.

"I think it was a go even before the environmental assessment, but this was a potential show stopper," he said.

Paul Von Rueden, president of the Northwest Area Residents Association, said the system is bad news for neighbors. The increase in plane traffic will bring more unwanted noise and the potential for an increase in accidents to the area around the airport at Cheyenne Avenue and Decatur Boulevard, he said.

"I don't know where you could stick an airport where an increase in traffic would not impact those who live in the area," Von Rueden said.

Loghides and Jane Pinto, owner of First Flight Aviation, a flight school based at the airport, said the addition of the system should make the airport safer.

The system works by relaying information about an approaching plane's alignment with the runway into the cockpit, which enables the pilot to land the plane when visibility is poor. The system will be on even in good weather, telling pilots whether they are on the correct approach, Pinto said.

In addition, the system will give local pilots a nearby airport to train at instead of having to fit in training times at busy McCarran International Airport or fly to California airports to train on an instrument landing system.

Loghides said county officials believe the system will increase air traffic at North Las Vegas by less than 25,000 takeoffs and landings, not 50,000.

Plans for the system have been a part of the Aviation Department's master plan since at least 1997, and the roughly $500,000 needed to install the system has already been approved by Congress, officials have said.

Once construction begins, the system, which will include the addition of a 50-foot antenna at the airport, will take four to six months to build, officials said.