Reported situation of a long term outage of the airport rotating beacon making it difficult for pilo...

Attributes
ACN	330091
Time
Date	199603
Day	Fri
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	airport : 26n
State Reference	NJ
Environment
Light	Night
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : approach
Experience	controller radar : 8 controller supervisory : 1 flight time last 90 days : 0 flight time total : 150 flight time type : 150
ASRS Report	330091
Person 2
Affiliation	Other
Function	oversight : airport manager
Qualification	other other : other
Events
Anomaly	other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other controllera other other : unspecified cockpit
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Airport
Air Traffic Incident	other
Situations
Airport	procedure or policy : unspecified

Narrative:

The reason for filing this report is due to an unsafe condition that exists at the ocean city municipal airport in new jersey (26N). The airport is equipped with a rotating beacon, however, this lighting is not being utilized by airport management. The airport is very busy during the summer season, and is hard to locate at night due to lights in the surrounding area. When radar vectoring pilots to the airport at night, many pilots will not see the airport until in the traffic pattern. This coupled with a 475 ft obstruction located 2 mi northwest of the field, provides an unsafe situation to unfamiliar pilots. It was learned that the airport manager has been advised by a local ATC facility of the concern on several occasions. The airport manager advised that the rotating beacon was 'broken' and they planned to have it repaired and operational in a minimum amount of time. 2 yrs later the rotating beacon is still OTS, and is now listed in the airport facility directory as 'rotating beacon OTS indefinite.' my understanding is that pressure from a condominium development, adjacent to the airport, has eliminated the use of this valuable aid to navigation. With summer approaching in the near future, the problem needs to be rectified. Either close the airport from sunset to sunrise, or let the electricity flow!!!

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: RPTED SIT OF A LONG TERM OUTAGE OF THE ARPT ROTATING BEACON MAKING IT DIFFICULT FOR PLTS TO LOCATE THE ARPT AT NIGHT DUE TO LIGHTS IN THE AREA.

Narrative: THE REASON FOR FILING THIS RPT IS DUE TO AN UNSAFE CONDITION THAT EXISTS AT THE OCEAN CITY MUNICIPAL ARPT IN NEW JERSEY (26N). THE ARPT IS EQUIPPED WITH A ROTATING BEACON, HOWEVER, THIS LIGHTING IS NOT BEING UTILIZED BY ARPT MGMNT. THE ARPT IS VERY BUSY DURING THE SUMMER SEASON, AND IS HARD TO LOCATE AT NIGHT DUE TO LIGHTS IN THE SURROUNDING AREA. WHEN RADAR VECTORING PLTS TO THE ARPT AT NIGHT, MANY PLTS WILL NOT SEE THE ARPT UNTIL IN THE TFC PATTERN. THIS COUPLED WITH A 475 FT OBSTRUCTION LOCATED 2 MI NW OF THE FIELD, PROVIDES AN UNSAFE SIT TO UNFAMILIAR PLTS. IT WAS LEARNED THAT THE ARPT MGR HAS BEEN ADVISED BY A LCL ATC FACILITY OF THE CONCERN ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. THE ARPT MGR ADVISED THAT THE ROTATING BEACON WAS 'BROKEN' AND THEY PLANNED TO HAVE IT REPAIRED AND OPERATIONAL IN A MINIMUM AMOUNT OF TIME. 2 YRS LATER THE ROTATING BEACON IS STILL OTS, AND IS NOW LISTED IN THE ARPT FACILITY DIRECTORY AS 'ROTATING BEACON OTS INDEFINITE.' MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT PRESSURE FROM A CONDOMINIUM DEVELOPMENT, ADJACENT TO THE ARPT, HAS ELIMINATED THE USE OF THIS VALUABLE AID TO NAV. WITH SUMMER APCHING IN THE NEAR FUTURE, THE PROB NEEDS TO BE RECTIFIED. EITHER CLOSE THE ARPT FROM SUNSET TO SUNRISE, OR LET THE ELECTRICITY FLOW!!!

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Reported situation of a long term outage of the airport rotating beacon making it difficult for pilots to locate the airport at night due to lights in the area.