Eglin streamlines flying operations

  • Published
  • By Lois Walsh
  • Team Eglin Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Residents from Freeport to Navarre will likely soon notice several significant changes to flight operations involving all military aircraft flying in Eglin airspace.

Base officials announced this week a major revision to the noise abatement and safety procedures directed in the base's formal instruction, EAFBI 11-201, to all military aircrew and air traffic controllers working on Eglin's ranges.

"Safety and the efficient flow of aircraft are our primary concerns," said Col. Donald Johnson, the 96th Operations Group commander. "Flight safety throughout the entire range was a driving factor in the establishment of these procedures, which are critically important to military and civil operations. Having a standard minimum altitude across the entire range allows air traffic controllers to focus on directing aircraft, instead of enforcing varying minimum altitudes in different areas."

The directives do not govern general aviation, or light aircraft that fly into local civilian airports.

"The new procedures apply to any aircraft launched from Eglin, Duke or Hurlburt Fields," said Johnson, "whether permanently assigned or on temporary duty, as well as transient aircraft that regularly use the air space for test or training."

The new directive clearly addresses all flight operations on the range.. The intent, according to Johnson is to "be strong partners working with our surrounding communities to minimize noise impact wherever we can."

"For many years we've had noise abatement procedures, but now we want to minimize the number of small pockets of airspace that require different altitudes for arriving and departing aircraft to ensure our air traffic controllers are focused on the larger traffic patterns and requirements and not distracted by variances to the overall airspace management," he added.

For example, a key change for all jet, propeller and tilt-rotor aircraft - like the CV-22 - is to raise the minimum flight altitude from 1,000 to 1,500 feet over the highly populated areas within the airspace Eglin air traffic controllers manage. The minimum altitude requirements for helicopters and any aircraft operating over water will remain at 500 feet.

Another key change to flight operations involves all aircraft departing from Runway 1 heading north. Those aircraft will now be required to climb above 3,000 feet to be north of Valparaiso and Niceville before making any turn over those populated areas.

"The intent behind these changes is to provide an increased cushion between the aircraft and the communities near Eglin to lessen noise impact in those areas," Johnson added.

"When there are multiple departures going north on Runway 12, the procedure will be to fly the runway heading, climb to 4,000 feet and turn north at three miles rather than turning north while climbing," Johnson explained. "That gives the pilot a longer time over the Choctawhatchee Bay so the noise is more focused over the water."

The new directive also requires minimum thrust levels consistent with safe operations in the area.

"Obviously, you use high thrust levels for take off. Our procedure is to use afterburner up to 300 knots air speed and then reduce power to continue the climb away from the ground," he said. "We need to be aware of how much noise we're generating."

Another important change is modifying pattern work especially during instrument training. Local area procedure briefings to visiting aircrews prior to mission launch ensures they are aware of Eglin-specific requirements. And while procedures and patterns may change based on weather and range activations, the air traffic controllers will provide specific directions to transient aircraft. These new procedures are codified now in one single document.

Johnson said the new Eglin instruction is easier and simpler to execute. "We now have a clearly communicated and executable noise abatement procedure that raises the minimum altitude of flight operations from east of Freeport to west of Navarre," Johnson said.