Sunday, January 24, 2010

Are all CLASS D AIRPORTS FAA controlled?

i know that there are control towers that are not FAA-operated. what types of airports have those?Are all CLASS D AIRPORTS FAA controlled?
SGR in Sugarland Texas has a non-FAA tower, of that I am certain because I know one of the controllers. So the question is whether that non-FAA tower is surrounded by Class D Airspace. A Quick examination of FAA Order 7400.9t says about SGR





ASW TX D Houston Sugar Land Municipal/Hull Field, TX


Sugar Land, Sugar Land Municipal/Hull Field, TX


(lat. 29飩?7'20';N., long. 95飩?9'24';W.)


That airspace extending upward from the surface to and including 2,600 feet MSL within a


4.2-mile radius of Sugar Land Municipal/Hull Field. This Class D airspace area is effective


during the specific dates and times established in advance by a Notice to Airmen. The effective


date and time will thereafter be continuously published in the Airport/Facility Directory.








So the answer is no. SGR is controlled by a fairly large corporation, not the FAA, that provides controller services to smaller airports, and it, in fact, has Class D airspace.Are all CLASS D AIRPORTS FAA controlled?
Not entirely. There are now 250 or so Class D airports (with operating VFR (non-radar) control towers, to clarify some of the previous answerers) that are run by third-party contractors that are essentially outsourced by the Federal government as part of an impetus to move towards privatization of the National Airspace System. We'll likely see more of this in the not too distant future, and it's not necessarily all a good thing.
They will be identified on a sectional chart by NFCT - Non Federal Control Tower.





Lockheed used to have some for their testing airfields, and some cities have them for reasons known to the citites... maybe not enough traffic to trigger an FAA tower, but they wanted a tower...
I heard that the control tower at LZU, Gwinnett County Airport (Class D) in Georgia is run by a private company. I am not sure but I think that the airport is still FAA controlled. (sorry for creating more confusion but I also want to know more about it).
All PUBLIC AIRPORT are government owned (usually state) and they do fall under FAA authority even private airport have to answer to the FAA, it doesn't matter if it is controlled or not or who it's controlled by.
major cities and espicially newyork.. the class d airports have these complex tunnels unde the ground for escapes and they need to be faa controlled so there wont be chaos

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