Instrument Added For Alternate Runway

A new navigational aid will allow planes to operate in poor weather at Spokane International Airport while the main runway is being resurfaced.

The new instrument will give pilots more information as their planes approach Spokane International to use the alternate runway. The aid helps planes land during bad weather.

The Federal Aviation Administration recently checked and approved the device, which is temporarily being relocated in Spokane from Steamboat Springs, Colo.

Low clouds and poor visibility caused the delay or cancellation of 51 flights in early June, airport spokesman Todd Woodard said. If the device had been operating, all of those flights could have landed or taken off.

The device will remain operating at Spokane International until this fall when the runway project is completed.

The resurfacing is scheduled to be completed in mid October, and is currently on schedule, Woodard said.

, DataTimes