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HomeNewsArchivesFAA Report: 'No Discrepancies' for Territory's Airports

FAA Report: 'No Discrepancies' for Territory's Airports

April 8, 2008 — Praising airport managers and personnel for airfield improvements, FAA officials gave passing marks to both territory airports, which underwent annual inspections last week.
Patrick Rogers, FAA airport certification and safety inspector, also lauded V.I. Port Authority officials and personnel for their overall performance throughout the inspection process for the Airport Operating Certificate.
The certificate program is designed to improve safety in air transportation. Airports must agree to certain operational and safety standards and provide for equipment for firefighting and rescue. Requirements are scaled according to the size of the airport.
Non-compliant airports can be assessed FAA-imposed administrative action and financial penalties — or in extreme cases, revoke the airport's certificate or limit the areas of an airport where air carriers can land or takeoff.
Rogers' report noted "no discrepancies" for the Cyril E. King Airport, meaning the airport is compliant with all FAA regulations.
Worn pavement and asphalt deterioration were noted at Henry E. Rohlsen Airport, and the Port Authority is already addressing both issues. The report requires that the worn-pavement issue be addressed within 30 days.
The asphalt deterioration on taxiways A, E, F, G, and H was also raised during the 2007 inspection. After these findings, the Port Authority closed the eastern portion of Taxiway A, sought funding for the repairs and issued a request for proposal for repairs.
A $4.74 million grant from the FAA's Airport Improvement Program is paying to resurface the deteriorated area, and the contract for the repairs was awarded to a joint venture between V.I. Paving and BetterRoads Asphalt.
The repair requires milling and replacing more than two inches of worn asphalt with three inches of new asphalt over an area of 55,000 square yards of pavement.
All preliminary surveys, studies and design mix are ready and await the arrival of paving equipment from Puerto Rico, according to Marc Stridiron, spokesman for the Port Authority. The repairs should have a 20-year lifespan.
The Port Authority is thinking ahead to next year's inspection and has already approached the FAA about the airports' aging fire and rescue equipment, said Cassan Pancham, VIPA board chairman. The 19-year old equipment will no longer meet certification standards in 2008. The Port Authority has discussed using funds from the federal Airport Improvement Program left over from FY 2007. (See "Port Authority Board Looks at Ways to Cut Expenses."
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