Testimony of NTSB regarding Texas Senate bill S.B. 505

            The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is pleased to provide this statement in support of S.B. 505 for the record.  The NTSB is an independent federal agency charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident and significant incidents in the United States and significant accidents and incidents in other modes of transportation – railroad, highway, marine and pipeline.  The NTSB determines the probable cause of accidents and other transportation events and issues safety recommendations aimed at preventing future accidents.

            The NTSB has investigated several accidents involving agricultural aircraft that have inadvertently collided with unregistered meteorological evaluation towers (METs) fatally injuring four people. 

·         On January 10, 2011, a Rockwell International S-2R collided with an unmarked and unlighted MET during an aerial seed application in Oakley, California.  Witnesses reported that they did not see the airplane perform any evasive maneuvers before the impact, indicating that the pilot did not see the obstruction.

·         On May 19, 2005, an Air Tractor AT-602 agricultural airplane collided with an MET, also unmarked and unlighted that was erected in Ralls, Texas, just 15 days before the accident.

·         On December 15, 2003, an Erickson SHA Glasair collided with an MET near Vansycle, Oregon.  That tower was unmarked and unlighted as well.

            The dangers of these unmarked structures have been a growing NTSB safety concern for over a decade.  Following our investigations, the agency issued a Safety Alert in March of 2011 to warn pilots about MET hazards, and in May of 2013 it recommended to 46 states including Texas that they enact legislation requiring METs to be marked and registered in a directory (A-13-21).  The provisions of S.B. 505 are consistent with the NTSB’s recommendations.  

·         A-13-21

Enact legislation requiring that meteorological evaluation towers erected in your state or territory are marked and registered in a directory.

            S.B. 505 would improve safety for agricultural and other low-altitude aircraft by requiring that from September 2016 onwards all METs between 50 and 200 feet high be painted and marked with alternating bands of aviation orange and white.   Orange marker balls would have to be installed and displayed, and guy wires could not be used without appropriate safety sleeves at each anchor point.  Owners who fail to comply would be subject to a Class C misdemeanor or a Class B misdemeanor if a collision with a tower were to result in injury or death.  S.B. 505 would also require reporting and registration of METs with the Texas Department of Transportation. 

            METs can be erected quickly and, depending on their location, without notice to the local aviation community.  They are often unmarked and unlighted because their height typically falls just below the 200-feet-above-ground-level threshold triggering the requirement to notify the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  This notification includes a marking and lighting plan.  Without measures to enhance their conspicuity and adequate records of their locations, METs are difficult to see from the air and pose a continuing threat to pilots who may be completely unaware of a tower’s location.  This is especially hazardous for low-flying aircraft that provide helicopter emergency medical services, law enforcement operations, animal damage control, fish and wildlife surveys, agriculture applications, and aerial fire suppression.

            Currently, it is unknown how many METs are erected in the United States.  Unless notice is required by other provisions in 14 CFR Part 77, the FAA does not conduct an aeronautical study of any structure less than 200 feet high at its site.  On January 5, 2011, acknowledging that METs often fall outside its regulations governing tall structures and their effect on navigable airspace, the FAA published a notice seeking comments on a proposed revision to Advisory Circular (AC) 70/7460-1, “Obstruction Marking and Lighting,” that is intended to establish  “a  uniform  and  consistent  scheme  for  voluntarily  marking”  METs  less  than 200 feet high (76 Federal Register 490).  In June 2011, the FAA published a policy statement announcing its approval of the recommended guidance (76 Federal Register 36983).  According to the FAA, no further action on MET requirements is presently being considered.  The NTSB has recommended that the FAA amend Part 77 to require marking and registration of all METs and create a nationwide registry.

            In the absence of a federal requirement concerning METs, 11 states have taken action to implement requirements for METs at the local level.  All of these states have enacted or initiated legislation requiring that wind measurement towers 50 feet or higher be marked.  Specifically, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, and South Dakota require that METs be clearly marked, and California and Missouri have proposed similar legislation.  In addition to requiring that METs are marked, four states: Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Oklahoma also require that all METs in these jurisdictions be registered in a directory noting their locations.

            The NTSB is encouraged by the state laws passed and pending on this safety issue, particularly those that require both MET marking and registration as called for in our recommendations.  Maintaining a directory of MET locations provides pilots with useful information and an added layer of protection in instances where environmental conditions may hamper visibility.  As the wind energy industry expands, the deployment of METs will also increase. 

            The NTSB remains concerned that without measures to enhance their conspicuity and record their locations, METs pose a continuing hazard to low-altitude aviation operations.  The NTSB believes that those states that have passed or pending legislation requiring the clear marking of METs should consider also requiring that they be registered.  It is our hope that the Senate will act promptly to approve S.B. 505 and provide Texas pilots flying aircraft in low-altitude operations the protections they need to do their jobs safely amid these structures.