City fixing airport shortcomings found by FAA

By Cassie Tomlin

Thursday, Oct. 9, 2008 | midnight

The city is working on correcting 10 shortcoming the Federal Aviation Administration found during an August 2007 visit.

The concerns of the FAA's Runway Safety Action Team were detailed in a report issued in April, and the city's Airport Advisory Committee on Oct. 7 was assured that it would receive a full report on the city's progress next month.

The FAA report listed a plan to make the runways safer, and required the city by certain dates to reply to the FAA about its planned actions.

Among the concerns were the presence of rocks and ditches near runways, the lack of lighting and sufficient markings at the helicopter take off and landing areas, the need for service roads and a perimeter fence and the lack of a dedicated radio frequency for weather conditions.

The city is "moving along and looking for funding" to enact most of the suggestions on schedule and is almost finished with the fence and road, said Community Development Director Brok Armantrout, who also serves as airport director.

The report came from one day of observation at the airport and meetings with tour operators and city employees.

Members of the Airport Advisory Committee, some who work and fly at the airport, said they were disappointed the FAA representatives hadn't consulted them during the evaluation. FAA agents in subsequent conversations had promised to return for follow-up visits, they said.

At the committee's first meeting since June 3, Armantrout said no date had been set for a return inspection.

"The airport hasn't received any notification they're coming back out," Armantrout said. "It's reasonable for them to do a follow-up inspection, and obviously they'd want to see the progress as a whole, but the airport hasn't been notified about when they're coming back."

During the inspection Aug. 14, 2007, seven FAA employees met with Armantrout, Airport Coordinator Mike Minshall, the city's airport consultant Kevin Flynn and officials from three tour operations at the airport: Scenic Air, Papillon Helicopters and Las Vegas Helicopters.

Bob Fahnestock, who owns Boulder City Airport Properties and BFE, which sells fuel at the airport, told the committee Dave Kurner, the FAA's Runway Safety Program manager for the Western-Pacific region, who ran the meeting and inspection, had told him in an e-mail he would return to the airport for a follow-up visit.

Fahnestock said he had objected to the report for the methods of the inspection.

"Having been involved with so much activity at the airport, I felt like it was wrong that we would have this type of meeting with these people and not involve the entire airport community," he said. "The report is lacking a lot of vital information that could be in the report if we were all given a chance to be part of it."

He said he and the members of the Airport Advisory Committee should have been invited.

"We need to change the way the airport sets up these meetings with the FAA that will impact all of us so greatly," he said. "If someone's coming for an inspection, we should all be given a chance to meet with them."

Cassie Tomlin can be reached at 948-2073 or [email protected].