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New FAA regulations require towers under 200′ to be marked

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by W0IW, Jul 13, 2019.

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  1. W0IW

    W0IW XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    New FAA regulations require towers under 200′ to be marked

    JULY 8, 2019 BY GENERAL AVIATION NEWS STAFF 14 COMMENTS

    New FAA regulations require landowners to mark any towers between 50′ and 200′ on their property, as well as include the towers in a new database the FAA is developing.

    Previously, towers under 200′ were not subject to any federal marking requirements, according to officials with the National Agricultural Aviation Association.

    The new requirements are due to provisions in the FAA Extension, Safety and Security Act of 2016 and the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018.

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

    The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 requires this database to be functional by October 2019. The FAA is also finalizing the marking requirements for these towers, but they are expected to be similar to the standards found in FAA Advisory Circular 70/7460-1L.

    Officials with the National Agricultural Aviation Association encourage landowners to preemptively mark their towers and voluntarily log towers on their property into the FAA’s Daily Digital Obstacle File(Daily DOF). The Daily DOF is an obstacle database that contains mostly obstructions above 200′, with obstructions below 200′ submitted on a voluntary basis. The Daily DOF gives an obstruction’s location, height, and type of marking (if any). Information on the tower’s owner or property owner is not asked for or publicly given.

    Association officials note that since 2008 there have been 22 tower-related agricultural aircraft accidents resulting in nine fatalities. The number of accidents and fatalities is even higher when other low-level operations, such as EMS-Medevac operations, are included.

    An NAAA analysis of accidents from 2008 to 2018 across all sectors of general aviation found there were 40 tower-related accidents and incidents resulting in 36 fatalities. 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, officials said.

    [​IMG]
    Unmarked meteorological evaluation towers must now be marked under new federal requirements. The arrow points out the almost invisible guy wires that pose such a risk to general aviation pilots.
    North Dakota farmer and aerial applicator Brian Rau has a 96′ 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 DOF.

    “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.”

    From a safety perspective, being transparent about the existence of low-level obstacles is vital to agricultural pilots and other aircraft flying in the airspace between zero and 400′, such as police and first responder aircraft, aerial firefighters and pipeline patrol pilots, NAAA officials said.

    The FAA’s Digital Obstacle File (DOF) provides information about potential obstacles in pilots’ flight path before they take off. Once pilots download the FAA’s Digital Obstacle File or Daily DOF, they can import it into Geographic Information Systems applications, such as agricultural aviation applications.

    FAA Advisory Circular 70/7460-1L on obstruction marking and lighting details the ways different types of obstructions may be marked. The document provides specifications on lighting systems, colors and light intensities. As an alternative to lighting, the document also explains tools for the “unlighted marking” of obstructions. This includes paint colors and patterns, as well as specifications for guy wire sleeves and high-visibility spherical markers.

    Rau chose the latter option for marking his RTK tower.

    “The ball markers seemed the easiest for an existing galvanized tower, and they really improved the visibility of the tower,” he said.

    “Aerial applicators have been at the forefront of ensuring a safe airspace for low-flying pilots for years,” said NAAA Executive Director Andrew Moore. “We encourage farmers, landowners and tower companies to familiarize themselves with the dangers of unmarked, low-level towers. Towers in and around productive farmland may prevent a crop from being treated by air if it is too difficult or unsafe for an ag pilot to treat. As such, due consideration must be given to locating any type of tower on ag land. If a tower’s construction is imminent or already exists, it is highly encouraged that preemptive compliance with the forthcoming FAA regulations required by Congress occur.”

    In addition to the human cost, a precedent has been established increasing the likelihood that landowners and tower manufacturers could be held financially liable for tower-related accidents, officials said.

    In 2014, a milestone court settlement was reached when a group of defendants representing tower manufacturing, wind energy, land-owning and farming interests agreed to pay $6.7 million to the family of agricultural aviator Steve Allen to settle a wrongful death action brought against the tower entities for failing to mark a 197′ meteorological evaluation tower or make Allen aware of its location prior to his fatal collision with the tower in 2011. From eyewitness accounts, it was clear Allen never saw the unmarked tower before he struck it.

    Landowners and farmers can submit an obstruction to the FAA’s Daily Digital Obstacle File by emailing the tower’s height and coordinates to 9-AJV-532-OBSTData-REQ@faa.gov.
     

    Attached Files:

    KC2SGV likes this.
  2. NK7Z

    NK7Z Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    N3UBI, W7XLR, W5MIL and 7 others like this.
  3. W0IW

    W0IW XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    I hadn’t seen this until my friend carland w0ppx sent it to me last night I wanted share so others knew uncle Charlie, and cousin Aaron were moving on this ...!!!
     
    BROBERT225 likes this.
  4. WN1MB

    WN1MB Ham Member QRZ Page

    Bogus headline.

    It should read: New FAA regulations require towers under 200′ to be marked and/or logged in database.

    The devil, as always, is in the details. To wit: "Communication towers of the same size have the option to be either be marked or logged in the FAA database."
     
    W7XLR, KM1H, NL7W and 4 others like this.
  5. NK7Z

    NK7Z Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    Click bait...
     
    W7XLR, KM1H and NL7W like this.
  6. N1OOQ

    N1OOQ Ham Member QRZ Page

    Uh, isn't it pretty much illegal for general aviation to be flying that low anyway, unless near an airport?
     
    N5YPJ, KD8DWO, W7XLR and 8 others like this.
  7. NK7Z

    NK7Z Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    Yes, but the FAA still likes to cover their bases, so to speak...
     
  8. WI4P

    WI4P Ham Member QRZ Page

    Agricultural sprayers always and med evac copters landing away from airports/heilioports need this protection. [/QUOTE]
     
    K4KKQ, N1DQQ, KR5OG and 1 other person like this.
  9. AD3C

    AD3C Ham Member QRZ Page

    Putting one up in the fall of this year. Going to be 49 feet now.... they will come up with something different again, again, again..... for towers over 50 ft. Wait and see.....
     
    W5MIL likes this.
  10. W0IW

    W0IW XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    I had a krazy ass flyboy crop duster, who would use my 100’ft ham towers as his guides while he sprayed the beans, n corn, behind my acreage, this flyer flew within feet of the tops of my “towers”, so I got pissed and I called the faa, and I called the fcc, and they did nothing I mean absolutely nothing for me or him..!!!
    Here’s the pics ...!!!
    So close, I wanted to reach up n punch the idiot..!!!
     

    Attached Files:

    N0NC, W9JEF, W5BT and 8 others like this.
  11. K3BR

    K3BR Ham Member QRZ Page

    Look how the windmills ruined the land. Everywhere.
     
    N1DQQ, KF4ZKU, K0PV/SK2023 and 6 others like this.
  12. WB9YZU

    WB9YZU Ham Member QRZ Page

    I get the frustration, but the FAA didn't do anything because he wasn't doing anything illegal.
    He was in uncontrolled airspace and not near any crowds.

    Next time he flies by, get the N number of his plane and look it up; then go have a cup of coffee with the pilot and explain your issue.
    He probably doesn't even know he's causing you anguish.

    Unlike licence plates on cars, N numbers are open records; just put the N number in Google and let it do it's thing.
     
    WK0DX, N1DQQ, W2KS and 5 others like this.
  13. N0YPD

    N0YPD Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    I agree wholeheartedly. They have alot,and still putting more up in my part of the country. I think these huge wind towers are corrupting the country side.
     
    N1DQQ, KI7HSB, AE5GT and 1 other person like this.
  14. KA2K

    KA2K XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    WB2PKR likes this.
  15. KS2G

    KS2G Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    If your tower will be adjacent to your house or any of the other buildings that I see via Google Earth on your property, there's no reason you cannot go higher than 50 feet --but less than 200 feet-- with no requirement for marking or registration.

    "According to the Act, the term “covered tower” does not include any structure that is adjacent to a house, barn, or other building, and “is within the curtilage of a farmstead or adjacent to another building or visible structure.”

    http://www.arrl.org/news/faa-reauth...exclude-vast-majority-of-amateur-radio-towers

    ;)
     

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