SITE INFORMATION AND CORRESPONDENCE

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5.16 WORKER HEALTH AND SAFETY The Kingdon Airpark runway is 15 feet amsl. Runway 12/30 is oriented in a general northwest-southeast direction, and is designed for aircraft to land in either direction. Runway 12/30 refers to its landing directions of 120 degrees and 300 degrees,respectively. The LEC site is located approximately 7,400 feet west-southwest of runway 12/30 at 8 feet amsl. Several factors affect air traffic patterns at an airport. The primary factor is whether a pilot is operating under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) or Instrument Flight Rules (IFR),combined with local topography and land use (rural vs. urban setting). VFR operating procedures apply when weather conditions permit pilots sufficient time to see a runway for landing and avoid other aircraft in flight or obstacles on the ground. IFR procedures are required when weather conditions do not satisfy VFR requirements,but only instrument-rated pilots may fly under IFR conditions. The Kingdon Airpark operates under VFR as there are no approved instrument approaches, although there are plans to expand the airport and to establish an instrument approach sometime in the future. FAA guidelines3 establish the standard traffic pattern used by pilots under VFR conditions. Standard airplane traffic patterns for small planes consist of a generalized routing in the form of a rectangular path of left-hand turns leading to and from the runway at an altitude of 800 to 1,000 feet above the airport elevation. The Kingdon Airpark traffic pattern utilizes an altitude of 800 feet above ground level (AGL) for the downwind leg,with a normal altitude of 300 feet AGL for turn from base to final approach. At airports without air traffic control towers, such as the Kingdon Airpark,pilots can choose to make a straight-in approach,rather than flying the standard pattern. After takeoff, a pilot can leave the pattern at various points. When flying a traffic pattern for landing into the wind,the normal procedure for pilots of average single-engine planes is to fly with up to one-mile horizontal separation away from, or to the side of,the runway when flying downwind,parallel to the runway. For takeoffs, the normal procedure is to fly straight ahead until reaching an altitude of at least 400 feet above the airport elevation before making a climbing left turn crosswind to stay in the traffic pattern, or continuing to climb and go straight or turn to proceed to another destination. The airport utilizes a standard left-hand traffic pattern,which means that all turns taken once established in the traffic pattern are to the left. After taking off from the airport,pilots head northwest (or southeast;however, the prevailing winds are from the north,away from LEC). Depending upon their destination,they may continue northwest or turn to proceed in any direction. If a pilot were practicing take-offs and landings,the pilot would make a series of left turns to line up for the final approach to the runway. Because the LEC site is more than a mile west of the airpark,this pattern would not take the aircraft over the site. Small planes flying a standard pattern would not fly over the LEC as they line up for the final approach to the runway when landing. Kingdon Airpark is also used by crop dusting planes. Crop dusters fly at very low altitudes—between 100 and 200 feet AGL—and do not use the standard traffic patterns. Therefore,the discussion above does not apply to crop dusters. However,because of the 3 U.S. DOT, FAA Advisory Circular No.AC90-66A,"Recommended Standard Traffic Patterns and Practices for Aeronautical Operations at Airports Without Operating Control Towers." SAC/371322/082380003(LEC_5.12_TRAFFIC_AND_TRANSPORTATION.DOC) 5.12-23