State government and aviation public safety

In the last few months there have been several emotional editorials concerning the Montana State Lighted Airway Beacon System. Unfortunately, the reality of the facts seems to have gotten lost in the emotional clutter.

I am sure that almost everyone will agree that the very first responsibility of government is public safety. Whether it’s the federal government, the state government or the municipal government, public safety and protection is their first priority. In 2017, there has been considerable controversy over whether the State of Montana Aeronautics Division should or should not continue to operate and maintain the lighted airway beacon system. The primary guiding principle in aviation today is see and avoid and see and be seen. This is still codified in current Federal Aviation Regulations, FAR 91.113(d). This principle, which was established in the 1930s, applies today as much as when originally implemented.

In the annals of aviation history, the ighted airways beacon system is as effective a technology and aviation safety tool today as the system was when installed in the 1930s. The lighted airway beacon system provides pilots with a method to see mountain tops in known defined locations to assist with visual navigation at night. There has been no affordable technology developed in the last 80 years that can safely replace these beacons as a night visual navigation tool. The only systems that come close cost two or three times the value of most aircraft that need these systems. Would anybody put a $30,000 to $40,000 synthetic vision system in a $10,000 airplane? I don’t think so.

The Montana government has an obligation to provide as safe an aviation environment as possible for the Montana flying public and for any visitor flying aircraft in Montana. Taking the Montana lighted airway beacon system out of service compromises the basic see and avoid principle expected by Federal Air Regulations. Although the Montana Aeronautic Division does not have a cost accounting system that tracks the actual costs of operating this system, they claim they can no longer afford to maintain the system. The most common cost figure thrown around is around $35,000 per year. The question then becomes this: Does it make more sense for the State of Montana to maintain a system of beacons that can be used by anyone as a night time visual navigation safety tool, or do away with the system and expect Montanan’s to each spend the same amount to replace this safety tool in their aircraft? If this were to affect only 1,000 aircraft, that is a total cost of $35 million. 

Is it good government public safety policy to shut down such a beneficial system? Is spending $35,000 a year to potentially save one fatality a year a wise government investment? Even if the Montana lighted airway beacon system saved only one life in 10 years for $350,000, is this not a wise government public safety investment? 

No one can prove one way or the other how effective or ineffective the beacon system is. There is simply no way to record accidents that didn’t happen because of the beacon system. When in the system was installed by the federal government in the 1930s, night aircraft accidents dropped significantly where there were beacons. Common sense would suggest the system remains just as effective today. 

Are the Montana Governor and legislators willing to jeopardize the life of even one Montana citizen to save a paltry $35,000 per year? I expect our elected officials are much wiser than that.

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Steve Rossiter has been an aviation professional since 1966 when he attended the United States Army Aviation School to become a helicopter pilot. He subsequently was trained as an airplane pilot and a flight instructor in both airplanes and helicopters. After the army he was a professional pilot and aviation manager in the wildland fire aviation industry as a tanker pilot and helicopter pilot. He also served more than 10 years as a law enforcement pilot. He then served 22 years in the United States Department of the Interior as a check pilot for both DOI and the U.S. Forest Service. He retired from the federal government as an aviation safety professional with the position of National Aviation Safety Manager for DOI’s Bureau of Indian Affairs based in Missoula. He remains active in aviation with the Missoula Chapter 517 of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Montana Pilots Association, a member of the Aviation Organizations of Montana board of directors, and a founding member of the Society of Aviation Flight Educators.