Formal Notification Lacking
Say, is the FAA trying to slip one past us? That's the question
on North Carolina's Pamlico Sound, where notification of the public
comment period regarding two newly proposed MOAs has been somewhat
lacking.
"Contrary to some published reports," wrote AOPA air traffic
manager Heidi Williams, "AOPA still has not received formal
notification that the public comment period is underway. The
association only learned of the public comment period because one
of our members -- one of the very few to receive notification --
faxed it to us." Her comments appeared in the Washington (NC) Daily
News.
In fact, the paper reports neither of the two GA airports
affected by the Marine Corps proposal to create the Core and Gunny
MOAs also failed to receive their notification letters from the
FAA.
FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen admits some of the letters her
office sent out were returned "undeliverable." She disputes the
AOPA's contention that the advocacy organization never received its
notice.
That prompted Williams to write, "AOPA remains extremely
concerned, not only about the proposed Core and Gunny Military
Operating Areas, but the extremely poor job the FAA and the Navy
did in soliciting formal public comment.
"The fact that both the FAA and the US Navy are very aware of
the strong opposition to these MOAs in both the general aviation
community and the local community, and the fact that neither AOPA,
the largest civil aviation organization in the US, nor members of
the local community were notified forces us to wonder if the lack
of notification was deliberate," she continued.
"Core MOA would overlie
much of the Cape Lookout National Seashore down to an altitude of
3,000 feet," contends the AOPA, in comments published by the Daily
News. "Yet... the FAA recommends that pilots overfly sensitive
wildlife areas such the Cape Lookout seashore at an altitude of at
least 2,000 feet. That reduces the altitude available to (general
aviation) air traffic to only 1,000 feet and greatly increases the
risk of mid-air collision."
The Marine Corps takes a much different view, contending that
creation of the MOAs would add a safety factor that the airspace
currently lacks.
Williams disputes that. "Because Core MOA would extend out over
open ocean," she wrote, "it also greatly reduces the margin of
safety for overwater flights. In the event of an engine failure,
the higher an aircraft is, the farther it can glide. Currently,
pilots can fly as high as 8,000 feet and remain below special use
airspace. If Core MOA were approved, pilots would lose (access to)
nearly a mile of altitude. Altitude equals safety. Forcing pilots
to fly at 3,000 feet or lower greatly reduces a pilot's chances of
safely gliding to shore if the aircraft's engine has failed."