Aerodrome Certification Workshop

1
Aerodrome Certification Workshop

• The Federal Aviation Administration
• Ben Castellano, Manager, Airport Safety
• and Operations Division

2
Overview of the US Airport System

• Airports in the US are generally owned and
  operated by
• Local governments (city or counties)
• State governments
• Port Authorities
• Airport Authorities

3
Overview (contd)

• Total Civil Landing Areas 19,796
• Private-use 14,555 (4983 heliports)
• Open-to-Public 5,241 (77 heliports)
• Airports - scheduled service 789
• international 87

4
Overview (contd)

• The System Serves
• 217,533 General Aviation Aircraft
• 4,801 Commercial Jets
• 2,427 Commuter aircraft
• 649,957 Licensed Airmen
• 710 million enplaned passengers
• 91 domestic 9 international

5
Overview (contd)
Activity at Busiest US Airports Total
Passengers CY 2000 Atlanta-Hartsfield 78.6
million Chicago OHare
67.7.million Los Angeles
Intl 64.3 million Total Operations
FY 2001 Chicago OHare 927,896
Atlanta Hartsfield 898,899
Dallas/Ft. Worth
835,748
6
Federal Framework

• Dept. of Transportation reports to President of
  United States
• Federal Aviation Administration under the Dept.
  of Transportation
• Primary concerns are
• Aviation safety
• Air traffic control

7
Federal Framework

• Associate Administrator for Airports reports to
  the FAA Administrator
• Airport Certification
• Airport Capacity
• Administration of Grant Programs
• Airport Standards and Design

8
Airport Certification
1972 Congress authorized the FAA to certificate
airports that received both scheduled and
unscheduled air carrier service with more than 30
passenger seats.
9
Airport Certification

• Airports served by passenger aircraft with more
  than 30 seats require a special AIRPORT OPERATING
  CERTIFICATE
• Federal Aviation Regs Part 139
• 570 civil airports 100 military airfields

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Airport Certification

• Airports must develop an AIRPORT CERTIFICATION
  MANUAL explaining how they will comply with Part
  139
• The MANUAL must be approved by the FAA
• Periodic Inspections by FAA

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Airport Certification

• FACILITIES AND PROCEDURES INSPECTED
• Pavement Conditions
• Safety Areas
• Lighting, Marking, Signs
• Fueling Facilities
• Traffic Wind Indicators
• Ground Vehicles/Driver Training

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Airport Certification

• Aircraft Rescue Firefighting
• Bird Wildlife Hazards
• Self-inspection Procedures
• Airport Condition Assessment/Reporting
• Control of Hazards from Construction
• Emergency Plan
• Snow Removal Plan

13
Self-inspection Procedures

• Section 139.327 requires the certificate holder
  to inspect the airport
• At least once Daily
• During construction activities
• After severe storms
• After an accident
• Part 8, Airport Operational Services, ICAO
  Airport Services Manual recommends 4 inspections
  daily for runways.

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Self-inspection Procedures

• Airport Operations personnel
• on the airfield every day
• Need to know the requirements
• Usually first to notice a problem
• Airport Inspectors
• On the airport only 1 time during the year
• Should not find problems if the airport ops
  people do their job.

15
The Airport Certification Safety Inspector

• Approximately 35 inspectors located throughout
  USA in regional offices
• Rotate the airports assigned every 3 years
• All inspectors receive basic training and annual
  recurrent training

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The Airport Certification Safety Inspector

• Basic Training 3 weeks
• Part 139 Regulation
• Signing, Marking, Lighting
• Fueling inspections
• Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting
• Pavement Maintenance
• Obstruction Evaluation
• Accident Investigation

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The Airport Certification Safety Inspector

• Additional Training
• 40 hours aircraft rescue and fire fighting
  training including hot fire drill
• Enforcement actions
• On the Job training
• Approximately 1 year to get ACSI credential

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The Inspection

• Types of inspections
• Initial
• Annual
• Surveillance

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The Annual Inspection

• Airports with scheduled air carrier service
  annually
• Airports with only unscheduled air carrier
  service 18 months
• Airports certificated but no air carrier service
  24 months

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The Annual Inspection

• Inspector reviews
• Airport certification manual
• Emergency plan
• Training records
• Physically inspects runways and taxiways
• Does night time inspection
• Test ARFF response

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The Surveillance Inspection

• Unannounced inspection
• Usually involves specific purpose, for example to
  test aircraft rescue and fire fighting response

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Enforcement Actions

• Administrative penalty
• Letter of Correction
• Letter of Warning
• Civil penalty
• Fine of 1,000 USD per day
• Suspension
• Revocation

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Airport Certification
Any questions??