The Crookston Airport Commission received new information from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about the master plan they’ve been working on since April 2019. The FAA indicated they’d no longer grant federal funding to the Crookston Airport if runway 6/24 stayed operational with its current obstructions.
A clear Runway Visibility Zone (RVZ) has become an important initiative for the FAA to allow aircraft to verify other aircraft’s location and their action utilizing runways, creating a conflict. The RVZ is determined as the point along the runway where aircraft could abort or chance their operation if necessary.
The obstructions noted by the FAA include a residential house and shed, utilized in the City’s contract with the Airport Manager, trees as well as the fuel tanks and fuel pumps installed in 2017-2018. The FAA funded the fuel system with a $330,643 grant through its Airport Improvement Program.
If a change isn’t made to runway 6/24, the City of Crookston will lose out on a key aspect of its financing for airport projects. Commission Chairman Fred Parnow said it looks like a different option for a crosswind runway would likely be a better option. “6/24 is a grass runway that is used for different wind conditions by pilots that are arriving or departing,” said Parnow. “Do we continue to use that runway, or do we have a different option for that runway? The way it looks, a different option probably would be better. There is some pressure to close or decommission runway 6/24 and reposition a different one that is more usable for high-win takeoffs and landings.”
The commission was presented with three alternates (pictured below):
- Close runway 6/24 (Figure 5-4)
- Shift runway 6/24 to the southwest (Figure 5-13)
- Decommission runway 6/24 and construct a runway 5/23 as a new runway which maximizes wind coverage at 99.64% (Figure 5-14)
Parnow said the commission has some questions about the new information and needs time to evaluate its alternatives. “This plan is based on a 20-year plan going forward for the city and community,” said Parnow. “It seemed like there was a deadline almost, and we had to make some hard decisions by this time next week. There are some questions because of the different alternatives that were offered. Some questions came from the Airport Commission members to evaluate some of those options and get more input. As a result, we’ll be postponing the (public open house) probably a month or so.”
Parnow said that ultimately the safety of pilots and their passengers is as important as the structures for future expansion of the airport. “It’s all about the safety of the pilots coming in and out and their people,” said Parnow. “We want to make sure that decisions made today are satisfying all the requirements going forward and any expansion capabilities, whether it be hangars or different things at the airport. We want to make sure all these runways are positioned correctly because you want to have a visual line of sight when you take off and land. Some of the obstructions out there might need to be addressed. The commission feels we need a little bit more time to digest the options and the best way to go for the next 20 years.”
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