Now that the SRQ tower closes at 1900, we wish to share and remind our local GA pilots the below information. There are about 3 or 4 arrivals every night and 1 to 3 departures depending on the day of the week. So, there is a fair amount of airliner activity when the tower is closed. GA activity is uncertain during this time in the evening. We include corporate/charter flights as part of GA.
When the tower closes, SRQ airspace changes from Class C airspace to Class E airspace. Which means that the runways are open, and pilots are free to give themselves permission to takeoff and to land. The AIM is clear that, under those conditions, pilots are expected to self-announce their intentions and locations around the airport in order to provide safe aircraft separation. In this case all aircraft using SRQ are required to us the SRQ Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) which is the tower Frequency even when the tower is closed. All pilots are expected to adhere to the AIM guidance (which is not regulatory) no matter what they are flying. And the great majority of pilots do just that. They provide safe separation when the tower is closed.
Airliners arriving at SRQ any time of day or night are under positive control of Tampa APCON since they are on IFR flight plans. Tampa provides traffic calls to the airliners until their instrument flight plan is terminated. This is not the case for GA aircraft on VFR flight plans when the tower is closed and the SRQ airspace is Class E. They are on their own. BUT all aircraft now have traffic advisory avionics (ADS-B).
“Automatic dependent surveillance–broadcast (ADS–B) is a surveillance technology in which an aircraft determines its position via satellite navigation and periodically broadcasts it, enabling it to be tracked. The information can be received by air traffic control ground stations as a replacement for secondary surveillance radar, as no interrogation signal is needed from the ground. It can also be received by other aircraft to provide situational awareness and allow self-separation. ADS–B is "automatic" in that it requires no pilot or external input. It is "dependent" in that it depends on data from the aircraft's navigation system.”
In the corporate flying world, they fly into towered and non-towered airports every day. The operations at towered and non-towered airports most often follow the desired operations from the AIM. As mentioned above, when the SRQ Tower closes in the evenings, the operations should fall back to non-towered operations. Given the proximity of several non-towered airports to SRQ, especially Venice (KVNC), most local pilots should be familiar with non-towered operations. Pilots flying for Part 91, 91(K), 121, and 135 companies are well versed in flying into non-towered airports as part of their daily operations. In addition to the guidance provided in the AIM, their operations are probably governed by company flight operations manuals as well, providing an additional layer of safety.
The primary rule for pilot safety is still SEE AND AVOID, and compliance with AIM guidelines regarding safe aircraft separation is paramount.
Inspector Andrew Crossman, FAAST FPM, TPA FSDO
andrew.w.crossman@faa.gov
