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As April arrived, a massive invasion took place at the Butler Airport last week, in the form of a fleet of construction equipment to begin the extensive replacement of the airport lighting system. Already behind after rain delays in only the first week, the airport is expended to remain closed to all traffic through the 25th of the month. I wouldn’t bet on the schedule.
Calls started coming in on the first day, checking to make sure we were indeed closed. Yes, read the NOTAM, it says runway and ramp closed. Thus far, no intrusions on the workers have occurred. The locked gates that have plagued airport users for years were opened wide for equipment access. In the midst of the construction, a Transportation Safety Administration inspector dropped in on us for an annual paperwork check on Thursday; fortunately he found everything in order and promptly fled for more secure locations.
We did spot a pair of intruders last week, a pair of pintail ducks swooping in for a landing on the City’s big retention pond beside BCS’s agplane hangar. One of the unintended consequences of building open water containments on or near airports is attracting waterfowl, exactly what isn’t wanted when it comes to creating the risk of bird strikes when airplanes are taking off and landing. It can be a serious hazard when a 10 or 20-pound goose impacts a windshield or gets sucked into a engine. Just ask the occupants of the Airbus that landed in New York’s Hudson river after losing both engines on takeoff at LaGuardia. We’ll have to see if our pair takes up residence.
Nevada Airport narrowly escaped major damage from the storm that destroyed lots of buildings on the east side of town Wednesday morning. Manager Jody Bryson said some hangar doors got knocked out of commission and power was off for a while, but no lasting effects resulted.
The National Transportation Safety Board now has a new “user friendly” on-line portal for reporting aircraft accidents or events. It’s supposed to replace a PDF form available earlier, to make it easier for NTSB to receive the information. My experience with government websites is that they are mostly built to accommodate IT developers trying to do as much as possible for job security; user-friendly is seldom the result. Notification, as opposed to reporting information, still has to be done immediately at (844) 373-9922. Non-aviation people always want to take charge of an aircraft mishap by calling the FAA, which creates unnecessary headaches. The NTSB is charged with investigating accidents; the FAA is all about enforcement of broken rules, an entirely different agenda. Their role comes later.
Some Chilean parachutist wearing a wingsuit did a high-speed freefall over Tennessee last month, leaping out at 41,000 feet and “flying” for 33 miles in 11 minutes, clocking speeds up to 342 mph during his descent. He was reported to be wearing heated underwear. No thanks.
Nobody responded to our question last week, wherein we wanted to know what year the Butler airport lighting system currently being replaced was installed. All I know is that the expansion of the field took place in the summer of 1990, and those lights and wires probably date from that era. For next week, our brain-teaser would be, what you be seeing if a “fledermaus” was passing overhead? You can send your answers to kochhaus1@gmail.com.
