PORT ANGELES — William R. Fairchild International Airport’s instrument landing system is scheduled to be back online sometime today.
The landing system, which guides aircraft to the runway, has been out of commission since June 21 while the Federal Aviation Administration upgraded its equipment.
Kenmore Air, which flies from Port Angeles to Boeing Field in Seattle, attributed 15 flight cancellations to the landing system being offline. Rite Bros. Aviation reported one cancellation.
Fog cancellations
The flights had to be canceled because of fog.
With a landing system operating, the planes could have still landed despite the limited visibility at the time, the aircraft companies said.
The upgrade, initially set to be complete by Aug. 1, was going to be put back online Thursday, but the FAA found a problem with its antennas, said Jeff Robb, Port of Port Angeles aviation director.
“They are going to work the problem out,” he said.
FAA has to be “absolutely sure that it’s dead on.”
The upgrades mean a more reliable landing system, he said.
Robb said replacement parts have become hard to come by, which put the landing system at risk of being offline for significant periods of time.
‘State-of-the-art’
“Now we have a near state-of-the-art system here,” he said.
“The likelihood of that system going out of service has been mitigated.”
Robb estimated the cost of the FAA-funded project between $350,000 and $500,000.
He said the FAA tested the landing system Wednesday with one of its turbo-prop planes outfitted with special equipment.
“Everything came in just fine” at that time, Robb said.
Jeff Well, owner of Rite Bros. Aviation, called the return of the landing system “great news.”
“A couple of weeks ago, I didn’t go because I couldn’t come back,” he said.
Rite Bros. Aviation provides chartered flights and service to other aircraft at the airport, including Kenmore Air’s planes.
Well said the absence of a landing system also meant fewer planes to service.
“IF the ILS is down, they don’t file here, they file in Bellingham . . . or Seattle,” he said, referring to planes coming to Port Angeles from out of state.
Aircraft companies can also be at ease with the reconstruction of the airport’s taxi way being about two weeks ahead of schedule.
The approximately $1.68 million project began June 22 was scheduled to last about 60 days, Robb said.
He said it will now finish by the end of the month.
The project is paid for with $1.6 million in FAA funds and about $80,000 from the port.
It consists of reconstructing a 600-foot segment of the taxi way and repaving the other 5,750 feet.
The project is contracted to Lakeside Industries.
The pavement for the taxi way is about 30 years old, Robb said.
He said the project has been broken up into three phases to limit the effects on the aircraft companies.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
