News Archive

AOPA calls for more changes in proposed Georgia MOAs

The AOPA has called for further changes to the proposed Coastal Military Operations Areas (MOAs) over southeastern Georgia between Savannah and Brunswick.

“This proposal imposes a barrier to VFR aircraft flying coastal routes to and from Florida,” said Melissa K. Bailey, AOPA director of airspace and system standards. “It could also cause grave economic damage to the general aviation airports beneath the special-use airspace (SUA).”

Acknowledging that the Georgia Air National Guard has already made some positive changes to the proposal, AOPA said the military still hadn’t gone far enough to mitigate the SUA’s effects on airports and VFR aircraft.

The proposal would consolidate the existing Quick Thrust, Gator, and Ft. Stewart Military Operations Areas into the renamed Coastal MOA, divided into eight sectors. While most of the existing MOAs are used only 28 days each year, the Coastal MOAs would be available for military use year-round.

The Georgia Air National Guard’s original proposal submitted last year would have significantly expanded the amount of special-use airspace devoted to MOAs. While the horizontal boundaries would have been similar to what exists today, that proposal would have consumed much more vertical airspace, with most of the MOAs being effective from 300 feet agl to 18,000 feet msl.

AOPA and others vehemently objected to the proposal’s impact on general aviation, forcing the Georgia ANG to withdraw and modify it.

“But the revised proposal still creates a significant obstruction to north-south VFR traffic flying along I-95,” said Bailey. Noting that pilots frequently follow major highways, she pointed out the Coastal MOA proposal would block portions of the I-95 flyway from 300 feet agl to 18,000 feet msl.

“The military should add a corridor above I-95 through the MOAs,” she said. Proposed Coastal 5 and Coastal 1 West MOAs would block Victor Airway 179 through the same altitudes, costing general aviation the use of a major northwest-southeast airway. AOPA asked for another VFR corridor along that airway.

Bailey also noted that while the military had agreed to provide a toll-free telephone line so that pilots could get up-to-the-minute status information on activities in the MOAs, the Federal Aviation Administration has not agreed to publish the telephone number on aeronautical charts. AOPA said that number should be included along with other charted SUA information.

AOPA praised positive changes that have already been made to the Coastal MOA proposals, including adding a charted VHF frequency so pilots can obtain real-time, in-flight advisories on military activity in the special-use airspace, re-segmenting the SUA to align with air traffic control boundaries and better accommodate IFR traffic, and reducing the size of a restricted area.

The military also reduced the vertical boundaries of several different areas, lessening the impact on Victor Airway 157 and Reidsville and Claxton Airports.

“But the FAA and the military have failed to consider the full impact of this proposal on the six general aviation airports beneath or immediately adjacent to the MOAs,” said Bailey. Itinerant operations are the lifeblood of these smaller airports. But VFR pilots often fly around MOAs because of safety concerns, creating the very real concern that business at these airports will drop off significantly if the MOAs are implemented as currently proposed.

“AOPA must still oppose the Coastal MOA proposal until further changes are made to mitigate its impacts on airports and VFR traffic,” said Bailey.

Comments on the Coastal Military Operations Areas proposal should be submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration, Air Traffic Division, ATTN: Manager Operations Branch ASO-530, P.O. Box 20636, Atlanta, GA 30320.

A copy of the proposal is available on AOPA Online.

The 340,000-member Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is the world’s largest aviation organization. Its watch on airspace is part of AOPA’s defense of general aviation for the benefit of all pilots.

97-4-042

November 12, 1997