PORT ANGELES — The failure of one of four locator beacons for William R. Fairchild International Airport during the recent snowstorm caused San Juan Airlines and Kenmore Air Express to cancel several flights over two days.
The snow fell much of Friday, Jan. 7, and the faulty beacon caused flight cancellations that day and the next morning.
A Federal Aviation Administration employee in Olympia originally was content to let the North Olympic Peninsula’s largest airport stay closed until the following Monday, rather than coming on the weekend.
But he was persuaded to get the beacon fixed by late Saturday morning, according to officials from both airlines.
“It cost both of us in lost revenue and lots of inconvenienced passengers,” said Tom Tilson director of flight operations for Kenmore Air Express.
Kenmore and San Juan Airlines provide six daily roundtrip flights each between Port Angeles and Seattle’s Boeing Field.
Port of Port Angeles Commissioner Leonard Beil has asked that a “letter of extreme concern” be sent to the FAA regarding the situation.
Port Executive Director Bob McChesney said the letter probably will go out this week.
The Port operates the airport.
Striped Peak transmitter
The Jan. 7 snowstorm knocked out the airport’s “locator outer marker,” which is an AM radio transmitter located on Striped Peak.
It is one of four beacons or markers guiding the airport’s instrument landing system that pilots must use to approach the airport when instrument flight rules are in effect — such as during the snowstorm.
