AOPA opposes ’unprecedented‘ airport nighttime restriction
Riddick Field sponsors reverting airport to daytime use only
A Montana county voted unanimously to pull the plug on the local airport beacon as part of an effort to impose a likely unprecedented operational restriction on an airport that for decades has been able to operate safely at night, prompting vigorous pushback from AOPA and the Montana Pilots Association (MPA).
AOPA and the MPA urged the Granite County commissioners to reconsider their decision on the nighttime restriction at Riddick Field. AOPA Northwest Mountain Regional Manager Brad Schuster testified virtually in a commission meeting against reverting the airport to daytime use only despite the presence of an operational airport beacon and runway edge lights. AOPA also worked with the MPA to submit a letter protesting against the decision in early January.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the Granite County commissioners voted 3-0 to deactivate the airport’s operational rotating beacon (effectively reverting the airport to daytime use only as a beacon is required by the FAA to operate for an airport to remain open at night. AOPA and the MPA highlighted in their letter to the commissioners that such a decision increases the risks of an accident, and makes emergency diversions significantly more difficult, with both factors exacerbated by the variable, high terrain around the airfield.
“Although only the FAA and Montana Aeronautics Division can definitively advise the County on precisely what the potential impacts on past and future state and federal airport improvement grants may be, what is not disputed is that the County has in the past accepted such grants for Riddick Field airports,” said Schuster.
On January 27, AOPA received a response from Granite County commissioners that indicated that they stand by their decision to revert Riddick Field airport to daytime use only and that the determination to do so lies solely with the commissioners and citizens of Granite County.
With Granite County receiving less than nine hours of daylight on the shortest days of the year, a nighttime restriction could have severe implications on the airport’s operational use, as well as threaten pilot safety.
