Approach Clinic: Not a Real Alternate?

Several months back reader Jim Gibertoni in Alaska forwarded me a letter he wrote to the FAA administrator, Randy Babbit. Heres a line from that letter: My question is simple: How does one FAA Part 91 pilot in Fairbanks, Alaska, get the attention of the FAA before the next crash happens in Fairbanks?

jwanwest

Tuesday, September 30, 2014 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Fairbanks, Alaska frequently lacks viable alternate airports for IFR traffic, particularly when its primary alternate, Nenana, is also affected by adverse weather or Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs), leading to long and potentially hazardous diversions.
A proposed solution to use Allen Army Airfield (AAF) as an alternate was rejected by the FAA, which explicitly forbids its civilian use as a planned alternate due to military operations, though it would accept legitimate emergencies like low fuel.
This situation highlights a crucial dilemma for pilots regarding alternate airport planning: what is technically permissible versus practically usable, suggesting that in dire circumstances, declaring an emergency might be the only way to access an otherwise restricted facility.

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Several months back reader Jim Gibertoni in Alaska forwarded me a letter he wrote to the FAA administrator, Randy Babbit. Here’s a line from that letter: “My question is simple: How does one FAA Part 91 pilot in Fairbanks, Alaska, get the attention of the FAA before the next crash happens in Fairbanks?”

According to Gibertoni, Fairbanks has one viable alternate for many aircraft. That’s Nenana airport, about 30 miles southwest. Everything else is simply out of range without carrying so much extra fuel as to be impractical or impossible. On the summer day in question, a TFR for fire fighting popped up and cut off Nenana, effectively leaving Fairbanks with no viable alternate for IFR traffic.