NAAA Executive Director Andrew Moore discussed federal tower-marking requirements for towers in rural areas on KXDJ-FM in Perryton, Texas, last week. He appeared on KXDJ Radio host Chris Samples’ show Sept. 6. You can listen to excerpts of Moore’s interview on KXDJ below.

In the first clip Moore explains that, unlike making hazard/no hazard determinations for towers over 200 feet, the FAA is not required to analyze towers under 200 feet for aviation safety. Aerial applicators and similar low-flying aviators such as law enforcement, air medical and pipeline patrol pilots operate within this danger zone for low-level obstacles. Noting there have been 40 tower-related accidents resulting in 36 fatalities across all General Aviation sectors from 2008 to 2018, Moore said, “It’s a concern, the lack of marking and the lack of a database to know where these towers might be.”

He then explained that provisions in 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. “With a lot of farmers and people in your areas listening … they should be aware because if they have a tower that’s between 200 and 50 feet and 10 feet in diameter in a rural area, where there could be low-flying aircraft, they need to mark that tower and they’ll need to log it into a federal database,” Moore said.

The second clip includes a discussion of the FAA’s Daily Digital Obstacle File (Daily DOF). “Now it’s not a failsafe. It certainly helps,” Moore said. “Nothing helps better than to be able to see the tower, whether it’s a flashing light or if it’s cable balls on guide wires or if it’s painted aviation orange and white. Nothing helps more than that, especially lighting. But certainly having it … logged into a database when you are keeping an eye on GPS certainly helps.” Until the FAA comes out with its final tower marking requirements, Moore encouraged landowners to preemptively mark and voluntarily log towers on their property into the FAA’s Daily DOF.