According to a public notice from the FAA Air Traffic Division, Alaska Region, TACANS in Homer, Barrow, Bettles, Deadhorse, Johnstone Point, Nome, Unalakeet, Yakutat and Gulkana have been difficult to maintain. The Homer TACANS is located off Ohlson Mountain Road.
The FAA proposal would leave in place Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range/Distance Measuring Equipment, or VOR/DME, navigational systems.
TACANS is primarily a military system, said Joe Rollins of the Alaska Air Traffic Division. Most civilian aircraft use VOR/DME navigational equipment. Removing TACANS would affect old military airplanes retrofitted for civilian use, he said. The FAA does not know how many such planes are still used in Alaska, Rollins said, which is why the FAA has put out a request for comments.
The U.S. Air Force has commented on behalf of itself as well as the Air National Guard, Rollins said, and told him it can perform its missions if the TACANS are decommissioned. Rollins said he had not yet heard from the U.S. Coast Guard or other military agencies.
The proposal can be reviewed at the FAA Web site at www.alaska.faa.gov/at/notices/ tacan-decommissioning.htm. Comments can be sent to FAA, Operations Branch, AAL-530, 220 West 7th Ave., #14, Anchorage 99513, or e-mailed to joe.rollins@faa.gov. The closing date for comments is the end of the business day, May 30. Questions can be directed to Rollins at (907) 271-5865.
Michael Armstrong can be reached at michael.armstrong@homernews.com.
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