Columbia Regional Airport focusing on improving runway “hot spots” and other issues
Recently, the Columbia Regional Airport received a grant for runway improvements from the Federal Aviation Administration.
ABC17 News dug into those improvements and discovered the airport’s crosswind runway had three “hot spots” that the FAA identified.
“They’re possible areas where we can improve safety,” said FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro. “Our airport safety inspectors and airport management look around an airport and it’s geography, and may determine that in some area where two runaways get close or come together or where a taxiway and a runway get close together, there’s always that possibility that two planes could taxi and get too close or a plane that’s taking off and a taxiing plane could get too close.”
Molinaro said if they can be fixed, the FAA would ask the airport to do that.
The hotspots for Columbia Regional Airport are listed in this report of hotspots at several different airports in the country. They are pulled out of the report and listed specifically below.
When asked about the hotspots, Airport Manager Tamara Pitts said that is one of the reasons for the grant and the airport will be addressing them. The grant is meant to improve that 13-31 runway and increase visibility. Low visibility is the main reason those hotspots exist.
Community Development Director Steve Sapp has been working with the airport since it began its Airport Master Plan back in 2009. The plan addresses a host of infrastructure problems that he said should be solved before the FAA would give the city funds for the new terminal it hopes to build.
“The FAA is very clear that pavement, infrastructure, runways, taxiways and so forth will weigh much higher in a financial request for funding,” he said. “We know that which is why we’re excited that we’re getting down close to the end of our project list with a 2009 Airport Master Plan.” Sapp said the first hot spot has pretty much been addressed and the finishing touches to eliminating that safety concern will happen when the airport lengthens the main runway 02-20 in a few years. The other two will be addressed with the new grant. “Those two are at the northwest end of the crosswind runway so again when we go to lengthen that runway, widen it through this project, we’ll be shifting that runway to the south and to the east,” he said. “That’ll take care of the line of sight problem when the pilot are on the south end of runway 02-20.”
The project will also consist of:
The reconstruction of runway 13-31 from a 75 foot wide, 4,400 foot long asphalt surface runway to a 100 foot wide, 5,500 foot long concrete surface crosswind runway. The installation of a new taxiway B. The installation of a new lighting system for runway 13-31 and taxway B The installation of a new lighting system for runway 13-31 and taxiway B. The installation of a new vertical/visual guidance system also known as a Precision Approach Path Indicator for runway 13-31.
Sapp said the new lighting system is a state of the art system which will also greatly improve vision for pilots.
The project is expected to get underway by late fall and be completed about summer 2017.
