A10 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 3, 1994 New landing limits | pleasing to airlines” A HAIRCUT is helping make possible more landings in cloudy weather at the airport, The haircut involved taking trees off the top of Punk Rock, . also known as Little Herman, the hill at the south end of the main runway. Those trees resembled the spiked hair of a punk rocker and their height prevented aircraft from making low approaches. Taking those trees off has helped aircraft come in lower and at a steeper descent path than be- fore to reach the point at which pilots must make visual contact with the runway. The new procedure has also made possible a more straight in approach, requiring less maneuvering by pilots just before landing. “The approach before was ac- curate, but it didn’t line up with the end of the runway. Now pilots can fly lower with those - trees gone,”’ said Transport Canada’s Don Neil. Terrace airport doesn’t have an instrument landing system but it does have a series of beacons tell- ing pilots when they can begin to safely descend on their approach - and a beacon indicating the loca- tion of the airport. Visual contact with the runway from a certain height and a certain distance is then required in order to land. On a circling approach, pilots must: keep the-runway in view: at all times. Neil said the new approach is about the: best that can be ox- pected without resorting lo sophisticated landing systcms. Air B.C. regional flight opera- tions manager Gordon Gregg said the new approach is also made possible by better aircraft and in- struments over the past years. “We had encouraged Transport Canada to take another look at Terrace a yearago,’’hesaid. “The new approach has dropped the height requirement from 527. fecl.to 415 feet and visibility from one and threc- quarters of a mile to one and a quarter mile. That’s a big dif- ference,’” Gregg added. Gregg tested the approach over the course of two days the begin- ning of March and. said there were times the only way Air B.C, got in was because of the new limits. Danny Bareza, the chief 737 pilot for Canadian Airlines, said it began flying the new approach the middle of July. Passengers may already have noticed Canadian’s use of the new approach because it means less of a chance of circling the city to land on the main runway from the north, he said. ‘Before we came in too high and to the right of the runway, meaning we had to do a circling approach,” Bareza explained. **Now we can fly straight in and land.”? He did add that a circling ap- proach will still be needed when wind is a factor or on days when cloud cover requires circling to ensure the runway remains in sight. Bareza and Air B.C.’s Greg said taking the trees off of Punk Rock was not the main contribut- ing factor to the new approach. “We were quite. pleased to work with Transport Canada on this,’’ said Bareza. The main difference between the new approach and the old one is a slight turn taken by aircraft four miles south of the runway which puts it into a better posilion for a straight in Landing, he said. “‘All in all, we feel passengers will enjoy this approach a lot more,”’ Bareza added, One previous suggested new approach would have meant more maneuvering before landing, a situation Bareza said was safe but would not have been comfortable for passengers. Q. ° department. 2 the way to 0. 7 ction.: The 1987 Settlement Agreement did not involve concessions from the ‘Department of Fisheries and Oceans, according | to the former minister of the Facts about KCP The $1.3-billion Kemano Completion Project, half built when Alcan halted construction in 1997, is on held pending the outcome of a public review by the B.C. Utilities Commission. This series addresses subjects raised in the review and answers questions we have received ait KCP information centres and through our 1-800 toil- free line. What did the federal fisheries department. give up to reach its agreement. with Alcan about Proceeding us ith KCP? » Rt ee 7 Tom. Siddon, who approved the terms of the 1987 agreement ¢ on behalf of the ® * government of Canada, described those terms as “a landmark achievement" - when he testified before the BCUC public r review two weeks ago. : He ‘said that he j 18 particularly proud of "success in persuading Alcan... to bandon forever the licence: granted in 1950 to dam and divert waters from ee the Kidprice-Morice system into the Nechako Reservoir." a Le “The former minister identified other Tmajor features of the agreement as: : a oe Aican’ $ agreement to construct a cold water discharge at Kenney Dam ©. 10 protect sockeye from the Nechako” speak summer temperatures; * anend to harmful ef fects | in the Murray-Cheslatta system, and 3 #1 long-range program 10 manage Necliako chinook stocks, with Alcan’s -- a legal commitment to maintain their numbers. : ‘He added that he felt that result would benefit the province and the: fisheries and i is even more confident now -- seven years later - -- that the agreement i is — Mr. Siddon took issue. with claims that he had nat followed the “recommendations of scientists in his department. He told the Commission — that'he had acted on the advice of his most senior officiats, whose job was to Se analyze scientific disagreements and recommend DFO’s best course eof | whis testimony, he pointed oul that DFO had good reason to avoid a court . “battle to establish where final authority lay in determining the Nechako’s: ~~ water Flows: “A drawn-out legal dispute on constitutional grounds could S have’ called his’ department’ s powers § into question Cross Canada... : “There: were people on both sides who really believed they hada creative, a solution," he said, . "| believe that we realized ¥ a nel gain:! The Kitimat Information Centre — The Kitimat Infor mation Centre is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday | fr om 10; a.m. to4 p.m. Drop by the office and we will be happy io discuss any questions you may have uboul Kemano Completion, : A special weekend in Kitimat It's only two days away now: Kitimat’s weekend to remember, “when: ‘Alcan retirees» return from all over the province to help us‘ celebrate the 40th anniversary’ of the start: of smelter operations here. For more information, call 639- BAN « or. |- ‘800- 4ALCAN' (I 800-942- 5226), 2 . Kemano Completion Project KITIMAT INFORMATION CENTRE 224 City Centre Kitimat, B.C. V8C 1T6 Tal: 632-4712 ‘Saturday, August 6 a Sunday, August 7 Our Renovations Are Complete - Come On Down For A Look 4925 Kelth Ave. ! Monday - Saturday 10am-6pm (The Yellow Gift House on Hwy. 16) “Sunday Noon - 5 pm 38-1808