Last Airway Beacons To Be Decomission

[vanNostrum]

[color=rgb(102, 102, 102)][img alt=The MacDonald Pass Airway Beacon]https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnew ... .image.jpg[/img][size=1.35em]
The MacDonald Pass Airway Beacon sits 12 miles west of Helena and was built in 1935.[/size][/color][size=1.35em][color=rgb(153, 153, 153)]Thom Bridge, Independent Record[/color][/size]
[size=1.35em][font=verdana]Citing maintenance costs and practicality, the Montana Department of Transportation announced late Thursday that it will decommission all but one of the state’s historic airway beacons.Starting in the 1920s, more than 1,550 airway beacons sprang up across the country and provided a path for night flights. During the 1960s the FAA decided the beacons no longer served a great public purpose, and began efforts to decommission them. By 1972, Montana was the last state still operating a beacon system, down from a statewide high of 84 to 17 in the western mountains[/font][/size][size=1.45em][font=verdana].[/font][font=yrsa]Transportation’s Aeronautics division operates the 17 beacons, but discussion of their fate has often cropped up during tight fiscal time[/font][font=yrsa]s[/font][/size][size=1.35em][font=yrsa]. [/font][/size][size=1.35em][font=verdana][color=rgb(0, 105, 163)][url=http://helenair.com/news/natural-resour ... 61218.html]Earlier this year the division announced the decommissioning of all but three beacons to save about $30,000 per year and because it said technology made the system obsolete.[/url][/color][/font][/size][list]
[li][color=rgb(68, 68, 68)][size=20px][font=yrsa]The decision drew pushback from some in the aviation community who said the beacons provided a unique experience and still functioned, telling stories of helping pilots safely navigate Montana’s western mountains, particularly in poor weather.[/font][/size][/color][color=rgb(68, 68, 68)][size=20px][font=yrsa]In response, Transportation convened a working group in May to study the issue and held three public meetings attended by a total of 36 people. The department also received 125 written comments – 82 in favor of decommissioning and 43 in favor of keeping some or all beacons operational.[/font][/size][/color][color=rgb(68, 68, 68)][size=20px][font=yrsa]“We certainly appreciate the passion of every aviator in the state on this issue, and we understand that 100 percent will never agree on any issue,” said Aeronautics administrator Debbie Alke. “I’m glad that we were able to consider everyone’s opinion through this process.”[/font][/size][/color][color=rgb(68, 68, 68)][size=20px][font=yrsa]Earlier this year, MDT said it would keep three beacons lighting a path from MacDonald Pass to Townsend. MDT’s latest decision says that only the beacon on MacDonald Pass, which is listed as a historic landmark, will not be decommissioned. Other beacons will be phased out while Transportation will ultimately look for an entity to permanently adopt the MacDonald Pass beacon by 2021.[/font][/size][/color][color=rgb(68, 68, 68)][size=20px][font=yrsa]In February, the Montana Pilots Association passed a resolution recognizing the financial burden of the beacons on Aeronautics but encouraging the division to keep as many operational as possible.[/font][/size][/color][color=rgb(68, 68, 68)][size=20px][font=yrsa]“It’s a shame to see them go, it’s a shame to even lose even one of them, but financially it appears to be the proper course,” MPA president Pete Smith said on Friday. “In general the Montana Pilots Association felt the money was better spent elsewhere, but it is bittersweet.”[/font][/size][/color][color=rgb(68, 68, 68)][size=20px][font=yrsa]Given the number of comments mentioning the historic nature of the beacons, Alke believes MDT director Mike Tooley felt entities more geared toward historic preservation would be a better fit. The department has heard from some parties interested in taking over care of some of the beacons, but has not actively sought parties out, she said. The beacons are spread across land owned by numerous people, making each decommissioning an individual process, she added.[/font][/size][/color][color=rgb(68, 68, 68)][size=20px][font=yrsa]Helena pilot Mike Korn penned an opinion piece that ran in several newspapers earlier this year supporting the beacons and criticizing Aeronautics for initially decommissioning the 14 beacons without a public process.[/font][/size][/color][color=rgb(68, 68, 68)][size=20px][font=yrsa]“I’m certainly disappointed in (the decision), but it does look like they’ve left it open for some other options,” he said Friday.[/font][/size][/color][color=rgb(68, 68, 68)][size=20px][font=yrsa]Kate Hampton, community preservation coordinator for the Montana Historical Society, has worked along with others to see the full beacon system listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The entirety of the beacon system provides a valuable look into the state and country’s aviation history, she said in March.[/font][/size][/color][color=rgb(68, 68, 68)][size=20px][font=yrsa]On Friday, Hampton said it is too early to say how MDT’s decision will affect the push for recognizing the system.[/font][/size][/color][color=rgb(68, 68, 68)][size=20px][font=yrsa]“Certainly our interest in the beacons as an important historic resource doesn’t end with this decision, and perhaps down the line in the near future we can come up with a way,” she said.[/font][/size][/color][/li]
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[mcrit]

Not so fast. we may need those things after N Korea EMPs us....