South Carolina Aeronautics Commission Update

Gary Siegfried, Executive Director

The 125th South Carolina General Assembly is in session, which for us here at Aeronautics means a number of things. Most importantly for the aviation community is that this means budget season. If you were at the South Carolina Aviation Association conference in February, you heard some of this information but for those who weren’t there, here is a summary of what we are hoping to accomplish in our FY 2024 budget.

Aeronautics has several budget requests in the upcoming state budget. Some are fairly small, while others will have a significant impact on the statewide airport system if they are included in the budget.

The first impactful request is to double Aeronautics spending authorization from $7.25 million to $14.5 million. This request is due to an increase in State Aviation Fund (SAF) revenue. As you all know, Senate Bill 675 directed all airline property taxes to the SAF. This combined with an increase in aviation fuel tax means that our revenue stream has increased significantly this year and we anticipate that this will continue. We are asking that we be allowed to spend this revenue coming into the SAF, putting it into important capital improvements at your airports.

Also, Aeronautics has requested a special legislative allocation of $100 million for capital investing in the statewide airport system. This request has two components; $50 million to be distributed to commercial service airports and $50 million to be used for the secondary runway rehabilitation program, which addresses runways at general aviation airports that are not eligible for FAA funding.

Along with the budget requests, there are also some new regulations working their way through the legislative process.

House Bill 3138 Abandoned and Derelict Aircraft. This is a bill that has been proposed in recent years but has not yet been successfully passed. This bill gives airport managers a method to dispose of abandoned aircraft that are located on their airports. This would allow airports to make available hangars or tie-downs for aircraft that are actively flying. Aeronautics has reviewed and commented on the bill and feel that it will give safeguards to airplane owners while allowing for airport managers to deal with inactive airplanes if they need to.

Senate Bill 459 Alcohol Sales at Airports. This bill will allow people who are on the secure side of TSA screening to purchase and consume alcohol throughout the secure area. Currently, if people purchase a drink, they must stay within the area of the bar or restaurant where it was purchased. The purpose of this bill is to provide convenience to travelers who want to purchase an alcoholic beverage and enjoy it while waiting at their gate.

Doc. No. 5134, Promulgation of Regulations. This effort is a result of a legislative oversight process that Aeronautics went through a couple years ago. One of the findings was that Aeronautics should codify rules for disbursement of funding from the state aviation fund. In addition, these regulations provide the Commission with the authority to enact regulations addressing hazards in the vicinity of public use airports in the state. These regulations also address the requirements of Section 55-13-5 that establish coordination between the Commission and local governments for the purpose of managing compatible land use near public use airports. The main point of this effort is to formulize rules that we are already operating under, helping Aeronautics to protect pilots, the public and the significant investment that have been made in our airports.

As we work to increase aviation funding, please help us keep legislators and the public aware of the impacts our airports and aviation education initiative make here in South Carolina. Remember that SC Aviation Week has been moved to April 23-28, 2023. Watch your email, the SCAA website, and social media channels for news about upcoming events and we look forward to seeing you then.

Blue Skies!

FAA Foreign Object Debris Program

As defined in AC 150/5210-24, Airport Foreign Object Debris (FOD) Management, FOD is any object, live or not, located in an inappropriate location in the airport environment that has the capacity to injure airport or air carrier personnel and damage aircraft.

The presence of FOD is a continuing concern at our nation’s airports. FOD creates safety hazards and can ultimately impact safe operations by damaging aircraft. Airports, Airlines, and the General Aviation community have taken the necessary steps to minimize FOD by engaging in successful FOD management programs, as per AC 150/5210-24.

In South Carolina, Keat Pruszenski and the SCAA Safety Committee have been working to make our state a safe place to land by tracking and recognizing participation in a statewide FOD prevention/detection program. Highlights of this program include:

• SC Aeronautics Commission procuring FOD sweepers for each of our 58 publicly owned public use airports.

• Currently, 41 airports are participating in active FOD sweeping.

• Airports are scheduling and holding FOD walks and inviting airport users and local communities to participate.

• Airports are identifying FOD Bosses—individuals who “own” FOD programs and commit to keeping an airport FOD-free.

General aviation and commercial service airports are leaning into the FOD program by using FOD sweepers, building FOD detection and elimination programs, and designating one or more individuals to head up their efforts.

The statewide FOD sweeper program began when Terry Connorton, Spartanburg Downtown Memorial Airport director, procured a device and began using it at his airport. He loaned the sweeper out to neighboring Greenville Downtown Airport. Word spread, leading the SC Aeronautics Commission to develop a statewide program that allotted one sweeper to every publicly owned public use airport in the state. View a slideshow of the FOD sweeper in use at Spartanburg Downtown Memorial Airport.

Saluda County Airport received a FOD sweeper in 2021. Saluda County Emergency Management Assistant Director and Airport Manager Jill Warren calls the SC Aeronautics Commission-provided FOD sweeper a game changer. “Prior to using the FOD sweeper, it would take a couple of hours to ride around the airports paved areas, visually identify, and pick up FOD. The sweeper has reduced the time spent cleaning up FOD and does a much better job as it picks up the smallest pieces. We are very grateful to the South Carolina Aeronautics Commission for providing us with the sweeper.” View the Saluda County FOD Sweeper in action. Notice the “pop” of dust when debris is collected.

Access these links in Leo’s online safety report at https://scaaonline.com/safety/.

At the Hilton Head Island Airport, the operations department, led by Chief of Operations Charles Neeson, manages the airport FOD program. Understanding the effects of FOD hazards to aircraft encompasses all personnel including, airport staff, general aviation tenants and terminal employees. Keeping a diligent schedule and promoting awareness is key to eliminating the threat of foreign object injection or damage to equipment.

As part of the airport training program, all airport personnel who have access to any part of the airfield including, taxiway, runways, hangar areas and aircraft aprons, receive initial and re-occurring training including the importance, effects, and elimination of FOD and the consequences if FOD is not removed. To increase attention to the FOD program, training coincides with airport driver training and security badge renewal. The re-occurring training stresses the safety of passengers, hazards to equipment and the costs associated with FOD damage.

During each airfield inspection, airfield maintenance or training, all hands are observant for FOD, hazards and any other dangers that could affect aircraft ingestion during takeoff, landing or taxiing.

FOD inspections are done monthly with the FOD sweeper on Alpha and Foxtrot taxiways as well as the runway and general aviation and commercial ramps. All FOD retrieved is inspected for “hard FOD” items including pins, nuts, screws or any other part or piece that could be ingested or cause damage. If the hard FOD can be identified to an aircraft, all efforts to inform the aircraft pilot or owner is made. Watch the HXD sweeper on patrol.

All scheduled and unscheduled FOD inspections are annotated on the airport’s work order tracker for compliance with FAA part 139 inspection.

Jim Hamilton-L.B. Owens Airport’s FOD program is extremely successful as well. Airport Director Chris Eversmann said, “We keep FOD on the front burner.” Airport users, whether based at CUB or a visitor, are asked to pick up and properly dispose of FOD when they see it. These efforts are supplemented with monthly sweeping from the Richland County Department of Public Works. The airport proudly shares it continuous, diligent, and thorough anti-FOD campaign on its website

As these airports and every public airport across our state fight FOD and make South Carolina a safe place to land, each airport user is asked to be ever vigilant. Remove FOD when you encounter it, and encourage your fellow aviation enthusiasts to do the same. Everyone can be a part of this mission!

-Leo Berube

Editor’s Note:

Congratulations to Leo Berube, who was named the FAASTeam Representative of the Year by the FAA South Carolina Flight Standards District Office. Well done, Leo!