07/17/2008

Associated Press

Problems with the city airport's primary radar have forced air traffic controllers to use a backup radar site near Indianapolis and increase the spacing between planes, officials said.

The problems began two years ago when a 10-foot-tall security fence was erected around the Terre Haute International Airport, causing false signals on the radar, said John Williams, local vice president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

Aircraft below 3,500 feet can no longer be seen on the radar, he said.

The Federal Aviation administration is not sure the fence is the cause of the problem, agency spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said.

"We have been experiencing this problem for a couple of years and we have been trying to work and find solutions and work around it," she said.

The airport had been using the Indianapolis-area radar overnight, but the FAA this month ordered its use 24 hours a day, Cory said. An FAA team from Dallas is expected to investigate the radar problem this summer.

"We want to get that Terre Haute radar back up and running," Cory said.

The airport, which had 78,199 takeoffs and landings last year, has seen a 13 percent decrease in traffic in the past month, possibly because of high fuel costs, Cory said.

The airport does not have regularly scheduled passenger service. Indiana State University students use the airport for flight training.

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Information from: Tribune-Star, http://www.tribstar.com