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American Eagle pilot diverts after unable to activate runway lights
American Eagle Flight 2536 was scheduled to fly about 125 miles from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to Wichita Falls, Texas, on Sunday night. The plane left nearly a half-hour late, and when it got to Wichita Falls, the pilot told passengers that the runway lights were turned off and there was nobody at the airport to turn them on. Wichita Falls said pilots can operate the lights using a specific frequency on their radio system, but the Eagle pilot had the wrong frequency. (thetandd.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
In defense of the American Eagle pilot, I seriously doubt this pilot had the wrong frequency. I had this happen to me before at my home field that also uses PCL. There is no doubt I was using the correct frequency. I called flight service to confirm there were no NOTAMs for the lights being out. I tried three different radios including a handheld radio, but could not get the lights to turn on. My local field is a towered field, but the tower was closed. If found out later, from one of the controllers, that the PCL function has to be activated manually when the controllers leave for the evening. Apparently, someone forgot to turn on the PCL that night. It's conceivable that this happened here too. The city of Wichita Falls may not want admit it as it is easier to blame this on pilot error.
I'm still hard pressed to figure out why Sheppard AFB, with the biggest training base in the U.S., has less than a 24 hour tower. I can agree with the PCL not being activated but why is it dark in the 1st place?
I haven't reviewed the airport, but the Pilot Controlled lighting may be on a discrete frequency, other then CTAF. This is fairly uncommon, but could and does create confusion.
Sounds like that heavy metal pilot needs to get out and fly some GA planes every once in a while.
They left DFW and flew to WF, since the pilot elected to return to DFW because he couldn't get the lights lit, are the passengers going to be reimbursed for the (no)joy ride? I know I would be slightly upset if I took a plane to point B and then discovered that I was landing at my point of departure.
A handful???
Really?
"There are a handful of airports out there that have radio-frequency-activated runway lights, this is one of them," said Jarek Beem, a spokesman for ExpressJet
Really?
"There are a handful of airports out there that have radio-frequency-activated runway lights, this is one of them," said Jarek Beem, a spokesman for ExpressJet
Maybe that's part 91 that doesn't require lights.