News Archive
AOPA reiterates opposition to Air Force lights-out operations, criticizes FAA for not giving public enough time to comment
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has reiterated its opposition to a U.S. Air Force proposal to fly unlighted aircraft at night in military operations areas (MOAs). AOPA is also criticizing the FAA for not giving the public enough time to comment on the proposal.
In April, AOPA uncovered an undocumented Air Force petition for a blanket exemption to Federal Aviation Regulation 91.209, which requires all aircraft to have lighted position lights when operating between sunset and sunrise. The exemption would apply to operations in MOAs.
Contrary to federal guidelines, the FAA had not published the petition in the Federal Register. AOPA asked the FAA to make the petition public. Pilots, who could be put at risk by unlighted military aircraft, should have the chance to comment, AOPA said.
So the FAA published the Air Force request June 7 but gave the public only until June 18 to respond—just two weeks.
“That’s ridiculous,” said AOPA President Phil Boyer. “It appears that the FAA doesn’t want to get any meaningful comment on this lights-out proposal.”
AOPA will ask the FAA to extend the comment period.
AOPA opposes the proposal because military aircraft operating in MOAs at night without position lights would be invisible to VFR pilots. They would be unable to “see and avoid” military aircraft. That would place the entire responsibility for collision avoidance on the military pilots, already busy with their training flight.
AOPA also noted that MOAs were implemented to notify VFR pilots of possible non-hazardous military activity and to segregate IFR aircraft from military aircraft. VFR flight is not restricted in MOAs.
To make matters worse, civilian pilots would have difficulty finding out when to expect lights-out operations in specific MOAs, since MOA activity information is not widely disseminated to general aviation pilots through the FAA’s notices to airmen (notam) system. Only flight service stations within 100 nm of the MOA have activity information, and the pilot has to ask for it specifically.
Despite the short notice, AOPA urges pilots to comment on the lights-out proposal. Comments must include the petition docket number (29396) and be mailed in triplicate to Federal Aviation Administration, Office of the Chief Counsel, Attn: Rule Docket (AGC-200), Petition Docket No. 29396, 800 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20591.
Comments may also be e-mailed to 9-NPRM-cmts@faa.gov.
The 350,000-member Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is the world’s largest civil aviation organization. More than one half of the nation’s pilots are AOPA members.
99-2-054
June 10, 1999
