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## 2 t. HARRY REID

NEVA DA

### [U\•~;~.J.~~ 

# :";( ,-:_. 1 M AJORITY lE ADER

Mr. M ich ael Huerta Acting Administra t or F

ed e ral Aviation Administ r at ion 800 Indep end ence Avenue , SW Was hingt o n, DC 20591 

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# 1a n ittit**tatts rn9tr** **~-** 0

# \..___)~ WASHINGTON , Dr. 20510 -7 012 M arc h 1 3, 20 12

Ms
. Margare t Gill i gan As sociat e Adm in istrator for Av iation Safety Federa l Av iat ion Ad m in i s tr a ti on 800 I nd epen dence Ave nu e, SW Wa sh ington ; DC 2 0591 Dear Act i n g Administrator Hu e rta and Associate Adm inistr a t or Ga lli g an: I a m wri tin g today to ask th a t the F ed

era l Aviat io n Administra ti on (FAA) r ev i ew i ts rec o mm en dati ons co nc eming g lid e r ope r atOrs a n d the i r effect on ai rs p a ce safety a t R e n

o-T ah oe ln tc m ut io n nl A i rp ort (RNO)
. Co ncern s con tinue to exis t about the safe ty of th e a i rspace even i n 

### li ght of a prev ious rev iew by th e FAA whi ch was conduc t e d in 20 I 0
. As yo u may kn ow , the be au ti ful , panoramic v i e w s afforded to gl ider s launching fr o m th e Sierra Nevada Mountain s attracts m a

ny enthusiasts
. I respect th e l

ega l r ights of th ese g l iders to e nj oy the views o f the Truc ket:**M~adow s**  basin, h owever , I st i l l remain comm itt e d to prov iding the safes t condi ti o ns for 

### b

oth the gliders and o the rs ut ili zi n g 

### the sa m e a i rs pace, notably airc r af\ ope rat ors 

### taking off and l a n

di n g from RNO. I apprec iate the FAA's p rev iou s efforts to add ress the g l id

er exe mp tion rrom CFR I4 part 9 1 .2 1 5
. While 

### a n ew na ti onal beac o n code will be del ega t ed for 

### u se by tran s ponder equipped g li de r s nat i onwide, !.h ere are many co n cerns tha t s till exist. The ne\v b eaco n code witl1 al low FAA A ir Traffic Co ntro l T owe r (ACTA) opemtors to ident i fy and locate g li d ers, however, this will onl y wo rk i f the glide r ope rators are e quipped and tum on th ese tra n s ponder s. There is n o o bli ga ti o n f o r g lid er o perato r s to install and turn o n these trans pon d ers, and as a r es u lt, th is may c r ea te a poten t ial co lli s ion be t wee n glid ers and a ircraft, 

### as h as al r eady ha pp e n ed tw ic e in Ren o. I res pectfully r equest that the FAA in vo k e its emerge nc y rulemak in g procedure to remove th e glide r exem pti o n from CFR 14 part 91
.215, and fi 1rth er fo ll ow up on you r previo us airs pace study f r o m 20 

### I 0, taking int o account the co ntinu ed sa fe ty conce rn s at RNO
. 

### I appreciate your atte nt ion to 

### this sa f ety issu e 

### at the R eno -Tohoe ln terna ti onal A i rpo rt . T he 

### safery of the travelling public rem ai ns an utmo st co ncern of mine
. If you have que s tions, p l ease co nt act Bo b Herbe rt of my staff a t (202) 228-45i8. 

### M

y bes t wi s hes to you.· ,·: · '!. L
. L**:L ~'** **i**

Krys T. B art, A.A. E
. P

residen t / CEO



### The Honorable 

### Harry Reid Unit ed States St:nate 522 Hart 

### Senate Office Buildi ng WMh in gton, DC 20510

- 2803 

### February 15, 2012



### Re : Update on Gli de r T raffic near 

### Rc n o -Tn h oe International A i rport De ar 

### Senat or R eid: ' r ' i**t'9 ~**  l "' ' v



### As we have discussed , gliders have an 

### imp <JC t on the safety of air traffic 

### o perations into and out 

### of th e Reno

- T a hoe Int ernational Airport (RNO) 

### as a r es u lt of glider pilots 

### either lacking or not tu rning on their 

### Lr an s p ond<.: rs . Al th oug h sigo.i.fican tl y mor e 

### stringen t c o ntr o l s 

### are still needed 

### to max.i rnize safety in 

### our airspace, I wanted to provi d e you an update 

### on an imp ortan t 

### fm t step that has be en taken by th e F eder al Aviation Admin is tratio n (FAA) to enhance ai r traffic safe ty. Glide r s are 

### c urrently exempt from CFR 14 

### par t 91.2 15 

### which requires 

### t hat aircraft be equ i pped with an opera ble coded radar be aco n transponder
. 

### With out the tr anspo n de r infonnatio n , FAA Air 

### Traffic 

### Con trol Tower ( /\ 

### TCT) 

### operators cann o t detennine exacr aJ timd e 

### o f gliders even 

### in those cases where the g lide r is 

### visible on 

### A TCT ra da r . Th is 

### s afety i ss ue is 

### compo undetl lJy 

### t h e 

### fa c t that not 

### aU glid e r pilots mai n tain radio 

### co nta c t 

### wit11 Lbe 

### FAA ATCr 

### op erators, 

### preventing the 

### timely warning of near by aircraft and incre as ing the pro ba bility of a mid

- a ir colUsi on. E ffective M arch 7, 2012 , a new nati o nal be aco n co de ("2 0 12' ') will be delegated fo r use by 

### transpor.dcr equipped gliders nationwide. This will allow FAA 

### ATCT 

### opera t ors ro co rre crJy identify and 

### locate g l.iders 

### bu t onl y 

### if t be glider i s eq uipped with a transponder and onl y if 

### tbeiJ 

### pilots choose 

### t o L 1lm 

### them on . Previou s ly , transponde r equippe d 

### g liders were indis tingu i shab le 

### from o ther ge n e r

al aviation t r affic unles s in 

### r adio co nta c t. Dc.spi t c this solid fmt s t ep, 

### lbc safety hro:nrd po se d by glider 

### traffic i s s til l a lo n g way from 

### resolutio n. Glider pilo t s are under 

### no o bli g aLion c ithcr 

### t o equip t heir aircraft with tTansponders or even to 

### rurn t heir 

### transpon d ers 

### on if 

### in stalled. 

### T here f o r

e, I would like 

### to reiterate o ur re q ue s t for 

### your assis tan ce in 

### k eeping pre ss ure on the F AA to e xercise its emergency rulernaking :1utho r ity to remove th e gH der e xempti on from CFR 14 part 91.215, if 

### only 

### i o reference ro RNO airspace , which wou l d gn .: atly increase 

### air traffic safe ty .

Reno

- Tahoe A i rport Author i t y Ren o-Tahoe I n terna t ional A i r port D Reno S t ead Airport**~~~==e ~~e.J**  490 • Ilene. NV 89510 • 775 - 328 - 6400 • Fax 7 75 - 328 - 6414 • kba rt @renoalroort. co m

### RNO G li der Update L ette r 02/J 5112 p ngc2 \**~ ~**  0 C I • • • .J ,/-



### Once aga in, o ur s i ncere !banks 

### fo r you r invaluable time and de dica t ion to the great state of Ne vada
. Please do not hesitate t o contac t m e nt 

### (77 5 ) 328

- 6402 if 

### have any questions or need auy more information.

KTB/lk b Sincere l y,

# d~**/6A-<f** Krys T. 

### B art, A.A.E
. P res ident/CEO

CC: D e

an Schultz, A.A. E., R T.-\A Executive V i ce Presiden t I 

### COO Dave Gonschall , A. A .£. RTAA Vice Pres ident of Opera ti ons & Public Safety Karl Scribner, FAA Air T r affic Mana ger, Reno ATCT



### FAA-120314-002 Reno - Taho e Ai rp ort Authority Reno-Tahoe In t ernat i onal Airport • Rer.o - Stc n d A i rportU
. S
. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration May 1 8,2012 The Honorable Harry Reid Uni t ed States Senate Washington , DC 20510 Dear Senator Reid: O ffi ce o f th e Admi ni s trato r 600 I n de p ende nce A ve . , S.W. Washington
. D
. C
. 20591

Thank you for yo ur March 13 letter concerning g li der operations and airspace safety at Reno

- Tahoe International Airport , and your request to invoke emergency rulemaking action to remove the g lid er exe mption from Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 9 1 .215. At th e Federal Aviation Administration ' s public meeting on Apri l 4, industry representative s presented their concerns. The primary purpose of the pub li c meeting was to vet the rec e ntly developed Te chnical S t andard Order (TSO

- C 1 99) for Low-Pow e r Survei ll ance Equipment. The TSO was developed to address cu rrent operational performance standards , to sat isfy Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System interoperabi lit y , and to improve detection by air traffic control radar sys tems, by incorporating features of Automatic Dependent Surve ill ance-Broadcast. The pcrfom1ancc standards were deve loped to entice avionics equipme nt manufacturers to expand on and offer a lower-cost survei ll ance eq ui pment s oluti on to the g li der community. The TSO performance standard should avert the cost of installin g higher-priced transponders which use additional aircraft battery power. We a l so met w i th the Soaring Society of America in february, before the public m eet ing , to brief them on the performance standards ofTSO-CI99. We enco uraged the development of transpo nd er equipment for g li ders not eq uip ped with an aircraft battery or other source of pow e r. Following publication of the TSO, we will publish a Request for Informatio n on or around September 30 to solicit cost estimates and availabili ty of equipmen t that wi ll m ee t th e require m e nts ofTSO

- C 1 99. finally, on March 7 we impl e m e nted a new national transponder code (1202) excl u s i ve l y for assignment to g lid ers so as to distinguish gliders , on radar displays, f r om aircraft operating with 1 200 or 1201 codes. The new national transponder code for g li ders will faci lit ate unique radar recogni ti on of a gl id er as a target when the g lid er is equipped with a transponder and it is turned on . Additionally , radar automation wi ll be updated to include the letter " G " in the data-block of air traffic controllers' r adar disp lay s to s i gn i fy a glider.

### 2 For purposes of review, the draft TSO can he found at: http: //'www. faa.gov/aircrafVdmll_docsltso / While we considered an emergency rulemaking, we co lla borat iv e ly agreed upon the development of an Advanced Notice of Propo s ed Rulemaking (ANPRM) , and thi s process is projected to s tart thi s month. The ability to craft the ANPRM language during the public meeting , whi l e pr o tected under ex-parte , allows the rulemaking team to understand the industry's opinions re gard in g mand ated equipage. I f I can be of further assistance , please contact me or Rod erick D. Hall , Assistant Administrator for Govemment and Indu s try AITai r s , at (202) 267-3277. Since rel y ,



# M~lluc" Ac ting Administrator