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Old 2nd Nov 2008, 10:28
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retrosgone
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Yes indeed, that would be Murcia once again. The VOR has been out of service for the larger part of this year, and the absence of navaids is Notam'd intermittently at best.

The VOR is controlled by the Spanish military, who don't seem prepared to maintain it or to give any idea when it will be back in service. The ILS is available, but there is no means of getting to it unless you have a Tacan - which is probably why the Spanish Airforce don't regard spending cash on the VOR as any kind of a priority. The end result is that lots of airliners end up doing locator approaches to an airfield with "interesting" ATC procedures - just like the 1930s!

I know that the local authorities are frustrated by the problem, but there is not much they can do without buying their own VOR (and they have considered it).

It is a pretty ludicrous situation, and of course safety is being compromised. The lack of timely Notam information to crews is pretty unforgivable too, though those of us who fly there regularly regard a "normal" service as a bonus.

You wouldn't get away with it in Northern Europe - just as well the weather in Spain is always perfect!
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