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NAAA Sends Press Release with Startling New Data on Tower Accidents to Encourage Tower Marking and Logging Ahead of FAA Regulations

This week, NAAA sent a press release to media outlets encouraging landowners to mark and log towers on their property ahead of forthcoming FAA regulations. Both the FAA Extension, Safety and Security Act of 2016 and the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 require towers between 50 and 200 feet tall with an above-ground base of less than 10 feet in diameter in rural areas to be marked and/or logged in a database the FAA is currently developing. Previously, no towers under 200 feet were subject to any federal marking requirements.

 

Under the provisions in these laws, meteorological evaluation towers (METs) meeting the requirements stipulated in the bill must be both marked and logged in to the FAA database. Communication towers of the same size have the option to be either marked or logged in the FAA database. 

 

The press release stated that from 2008 to 2018, there have been 22 agricultural aviation accidents from collisions with METs, communication towers, towers supporting power lines and wind turbines resulting in nine fatalities. However, when including tower accidents for all of general aviation, there have been 40 tower-related accidents and incidents resulting in 36 fatalities over the same 11-year period. The press release states in part: 

These obstructions are a not just a risk for agricultural aviators, but for all general aviation operations as well, including EMS, law enforcement, aerial imaging flights, sport pilots and gliders....The data also shows many of those general aviation aviators did not collide with the main body of the obstruction itself, but the extremely difficult to see guy wires supporting the structure, illustrating the importance of installing high-visibility guy wire sleeves or spherical ball markers.

 

“These startling figures show the risk of tower accidents cuts across all segments of aviation, and the proper marking and logging of these obstructions must be undertaken with the utmost seriousness” [NAAA Executive Director Andrew] Moore said. 

The press release gave the example of North Dakota farmer and aerial applicator Brian Rau marking and logging a 96-foot-tall RTK tower on his property. Short for “real time kinematic,” RTK towers supplement the GPS systems of automated ground-based farm equipment. As an aerial applicator, Rau knows the importance of having such towers both marked and logged into appropriate FAA databases, regardless of legal requirements. He added florescent ball markers within the structure’s skeleton soon after it was converted from a communications tower to an RTK tower. This year Rau took the additional step of providing the coordinates of his tower to the FAA’s Obstacle Data Team for inclusion in the Daily Digital Obstacle File, an existing database where towers under 200 feet can be logged voluntarily. 

 

“Seeing the growth of communication towers in North Dakota and across the county, I knew it was important to both mark and properly log the tower,” Rau said. “Submitting the tower to be included in the FAA’s Daily Digital Obstacle File only took minutes and was well worth a few moments of my time.”

 

Landowners and farmers may submit an obstruction to the FAA’s Daily Digital Obstacle File by emailing the tower’s height and coordinates and any existing markings to 9-AJV-532-OBSTData-REQ@faa.gov. Information on the tower’s owner or property owner is not asked for or publicly given.

 

The press release has so far been published by Ag Air Update and Vertical Magazine.

 

You can read the full press release here.

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This newsletter is intended for NAAA members only. NAAA requests that should any party desire to publish, distribute or quote any part of this newsletter that they first seek the permission of the Association. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA), its Board of Directors, staff or membership. Items in this newsletter are not the result of paid advertising and are only meant to highlight newsworthy developments. No endorsement by NAAA is intended or implied.
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Operation S.A.F.E. Analyst School

Carlisle, AR Municipal Airport 

Dennis Gardisser
501-676-1762  

 

October 3–4

Colorado AAA Operation S.A.F.E. Fly-In

La Junta, CO

Jessica Freeman

719-362-0743

 

October 11–12

NAAA and NAAREF Board Meetings

Grand Hyatt Denver 

Lindsay Barber

202-546-5722

Full Calendar of Events

  

 

 

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