AOPA is advising pilots who operate at Louisiana’s Hammond Northshore Regional Airport, north of New Orleans, to become familiar with procedures scheduled to take effect Dec. 15, when the airport’s new air traffic control tower is slated to begin operation.
The FAA has scheduled a pilot safety seminar for Dec. 12 to address scheduled airspace classification changes, airport markings, and procedures for communicating with the control tower, as well as to answer pilot questions. AOPA encourages pilots to attend the session at 6 p.m. at Fly By Knight, 800 Judge Leon Ford Drive, Hammond, Louisiana.
The FAA said current Class G airspace at Hammond Northshore Regional Airport will remain in effect until March 5, 2015, when the changeover to Class D airspace will coincide with the new issues of some navigational charts.
In the interim, pilots should be familiar with 14 CFR 91.126 (d), "Operating on or in the vicinity of an airport in Class G airspace," which states that "unless otherwise authorized or required by ATC, no person may operate an aircraft to, from, through, or on an airport having an operational control tower unless two-way radio communications are maintained between that aircraft and the control tower. Communications must be established prior to 4 nautical miles from the airport, up to and including 2,500 feet AGL." Pilots also should review the Air Safety Institute's Airspace for Everyone Safety Advisor.
The control tower, to be operated by the Army National Guard, will provide service seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., said Yasmina Platt, AOPA Central/Southwest regional manager, who urged pilots to check notams frequently for any operational changes.
Completion of the tower’s construction is expected on Dec. 15, with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony to follow Dec. 17, she said.
Ground control and clearance delivery will be on frequency 119.85 MHz. The tower frequency will be 120.575 MHz. The airport’s automated weather observing system (AWOS) frequency will continue to broadcast on 118.325 MHz, and the frequency will provide automatic terminal information service (ATIS) broadcasts during control tower operating hours.
