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Class D Airport Closing

December 11, 2007 13:14 253 views 2 Comments

Buttonville’s airspace is class D during hours of operation (They close at 11pm at night). Outside of those hours it’s class E.

I’ve always wondered what would happen when someone needs to land just as the tower was closing. Well, someone did just that in St. Petersburg in Florida.

Sounds like the Flight Service guy wasn’t really prepared to give the airport advisory.

Clip courtesy of liveatc.net.

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2 Comments »

  • Brian said:

    So if the airspace switched to Class E, would that aircraft on the 12 mile final still be allowed to approach straight in?
    I’d think they’d have to use the procedure to join the downwind at an uncontrolled airport?

  • Blake said:

    Brian,
    He would still be able to fly straight in, because an airport advisory was made available to him by the FSS guy.
    RAC 4.5.2.2(a)(vi) states:
    Aerodromes within an MF area when airport advisory information is available: Aircraft may join the circuit pattern straight-in or at 45˚ to the downwind leg or straight-in to the base or final legs (Figure 4.1). Pilots should be alert for other VFR traffic entering the circuit at these positions and for IFR straight-in or circling approaches.
    We’re making the assumption here that the rules in the USA are the same as Canada in this particular example.

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