Outdoors/Adventure

Interior pilots express concern over military's 'airspace grab'

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that the first in a series of meetings to discuss a military expansion of airspace in interior Alaska last Thursday raised concerns from a number of interior pilots. The plan proposes raising the restricted flight ceiling in some areas from 5,000 feet to 18,000 feet, and lowering it to as little as 500 feet. It also recommends new corridors for unmanned aircraft in the Tanana Flats region.

Pilots at the meeting expressed concerns that the new recommendations could severely impair general and civilian aviation in the area, including forcing private planes to re-evaluate flight paths, which could potentially add time and cost to flights. There are more meetings planned to discuss the proposals, one in Healy Monday night, and another in Fairbanks on Thursday. For specifics on Thursday's meeting, and to read more about other aspects of the proposals and the concerns being raised by pilots, click here.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

ADVERTISEMENT