Transportation  August 31, 2022

Certification of remote tower at NoCo airport still years away 

FORT COLLINS — The Federal Aviation Administration is continuing to conduct the certification process for a first-of-its-kind remote air-traffic control tower at Northern Colorado Regional Airport, a process airport manager Jason Licon says could take as long as three years.

The FAA, through vendor Searidge Technologies, “began testing of the system in April and May,” Licon said. “Timing is going on actively. We had hoped to be way ahead of this by now, but the pandemic didn’t let the FAA travel out here, and that set us back quite a bit. We’re glad to be back on track now.”

Allegiant Air had served the airport with passenger service starting in 2003, but suspended flights in 2012 and has not returned, citing the lack of an operational air traffic control tower.

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The airport set up a temporary control center – supplied by Klamath Falls, Oregon-based Aegis ATC LLC – on the field in March 2020, Licon said, and it remains open 10 hours a day, seven days a week, with staff provided by Serco Group PLC (LSP: SRP), a British public services provider and the federal contractor responsible for hiring controllers for small airports in the western United States. Those staffers also are helping the FAA test the remote tower.

The airport also has relied on controllers at Denver International Airport as well as pilots talking to each other by radio. 

Searidge Technologies, based in Nepean, Ontario, is testing a remote tower system it says is one of the first in the world to integrate both video and radar to provide a comprehensive view of the airport surface and surrounding airspace to air-traffic controllers working in a remote facility. “The typical ‘out the window’ view from a control tower is replicated by an array of cameras that provide a 360-degree view of the maneuvering area and airspace close to the airport,” the company says on its website. “This is augmented by two further masts located close to each of the main runway thresholds. These masts provide panoramic views of the thresholds as well as zoomed views of the final approach paths, enabling the controllers to have enhanced observation of these critical areas.” Also installed would be cameras that could pan, tilt and zoom “to replicate the binocular function required in a tower,” Searidge says.

The remote tower was set up at the airport in November 2018 but sat idle for years during the COVID-19 pandemic while awaiting the testing and certification process to begin. Now comes more waiting before it can be operational, Licon said.

“My initial thoughts are that this will be a two- to three-year process,” Licon said. “We’re very much on the front end of that.”

But once that happens, he said, the remote tower will eliminate the expense of setting up and staffing a control tower at the airport.

Phase 1 of the certification process, in which the FAA assessed the remote tower’s functional capabilities, was completed last spring. Now in Phase 2, the remote tower is serving as the primary controller of air traffic, with the mobile tower as backup.

Meanwhile, Licon said, “we’re still marketing to potential air carriers, and we’re building a new terminal facility to replace the temporary structures we’ve used for the last 20 years – basically a triple-wide trailer serving that purpose.

“We have engaged with Larimer County on grant opportunities and through the state as well,” Licon said. “We’re looking for any and all funding sources.”

The airport also is awaiting a decision about establishing a U.S. Customs and Border Protection office there.

FORT COLLINS — The Federal Aviation Administration is continuing to conduct the certification process for a first-of-its-kind remote air-traffic control tower at Northern Colorado Regional Airport, a process airport manager Jason Licon says could take as long as three years.

The FAA, through vendor Searidge Technologies, “began testing of the system in April and May,” Licon said. “Timing is going on actively. We had hoped to be way ahead of this by now, but the pandemic didn’t let the FAA travel out here, and that set us back quite a bit. We’re glad to be back on track now.”

Allegiant Air had…

Dallas Heltzell
With BizWest since 2012 and in Colorado since 1979, Dallas worked at the Longmont Times-Call, Colorado Springs Gazette, Denver Post and Public News Service. A Missouri native and Mizzou School of Journalism grad, Dallas started as a sports writer and outdoor columnist at the St. Charles (Mo.) Banner-News, then went to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch before fleeing the heat and humidity for the Rockies. He especially loves covering our mountain communities.
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