A technical update on LEX difficiencies.
Dear Aviators,
According to the airport, it complies with all FAA regulations. This is most interesting as I have seen some of the technical reports and photos from the various inspections that have been carried out.
Firstly, as I have said before, the charts are wrong, wrong, wrong. The current FAA chart shows what the airport will build in the future, not what is there now. They do not show the current "temporary taxiway" which appears to be called Alpha, but show a taxiway in a different location called Alpha Seven. Where Alpha Seven is shown on the chart is actually blocked off by the famous red lights.
However, if the charts are wrong, the airport appears not to care. Is there really no duty of care for the airport operator to check what the FAA publishes?
Secondly, there are numerous signage problems. Several signs along the runway/Alpha taxiway do not have complete letter/numbering. Therefore, it is possible for an aircraft to land on 22, vacate on Alpha Three (such as I did recently) and then be directed to turn left and back across the runway as they have missed the 4 out of A4. You just get an arrow with A written on it. I am not sure if this is an FAA standard or not. Certainly it would explain why you have runway incursions.
The holding position signs on most of Alpha are so close to the taxiway that you cannot see them and they are mounted at 90 degrees to the taxiway centreline. They need to be turned to increase their visibility.
There are several holding positions with the same name. I am not sure if this is an FAA "requirement" but it sure as hell is confusing. There are at least three holding position Alphas prior to entering various runways.
The ground markings are pathetic. Just some yellow lines. At the last holding point where the aircraft made the fatal left turn onto R26, there is a lead off line from 08, no lead on line to 26, a line taking you into the old taxiway (now shown as A7 but with the red lights) and a line taking you across to the "proper" taxiway. No information signs to say which to follow, no painted information markings to tell you which to follow. Is this really FAA standard? These yellow lines are not blacked in on either side, although in other areas of the airport, they are.
I love the FAA notice to taxi with extra care. How about fixing the problems? Of course, the airport has a Part 139 certificate, but the sign at the entry to the security area informing the passengers of a security deficiency in Bali takes precidence over inspecting a regional airport for safety.
LEX is a registered international airport according to the FAA, so they have a duty between them to register the differences from ICAO Annexes. They are way behind the drag curve on this one. Even the FAA cannot manage to work out that PANS ATM is the new abbreviation for PANS RAC.
If you need to know any more, just ask. I will see what I have managed to gather.
Happy landings, and safe take-offs.