Kalda Regional: an expired licence, a hilltop repeater and an unqualified handheld
Kalda Regional Aerodrome (KDRX) operates an aerodrome flight information service under a national aeronautical station licence that names the station location, two assigned VHF frequencies (118.300 for AFIS, 121.700 for apron), a transmitter power of 25 W, and an antenna height of 18 m AGL. The licence expired 90 days ago: the renewal form was submitted but the fee was never paid and the application was returned. In the meantime the operator has (a) installed a 50 W hilltop repeater on 130.125 to cover the northern valley, with no frequency coordination and no licence variation, (b) issued a VHF handheld to a baggage-handling supervisor so he can coordinate loading on 118.300, and (c) added a second receiver so that 121.5 is monitored continuously in the tower. A regulator's inspector arrives unannounced on a Friday afternoon and asks for the licence, the station log and the operator certificates of the two staff on duty; one certificate lapsed last month.
1. Rank the four findings - expired station licence, 130.125 repeater, handheld issued to the baggage supervisor, lapsed operator certificate - by regulatory severity, and state what must happen before each can lawfully be used.
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1. The expired licence is the most serious finding, because it vitiates every other transmission: with no valid licence and an unpaid fee, there is no renewal in existence, only an unprocessed application. Every transmission on 118.300 and 121.700 since expiry is unauthorised, across all hours and all services. The remedy is an immediate temporary or short-term authorisation, or suspension of radiocommunications.
2. The 130.125 repeater involves three separate unauthorised changes at once: a new frequency assignment (requiring coordination), a power increase from 25 W to 50 W, and a change of station location and antenna height. It stays off air until a variation is granted. Uncoordinated use also creates an interference risk to neighbouring assignments, which is a reason for urgency rather than an excuse to keep operating.
3. The lapsed operator certificate means the individual may not act as sole watchkeeper; the licence almost certainly conditions operation on certificated staff. Roster a valid certificate holder until the renewal is processed.
4. The handheld is the least serious but conceptually instructive: the licence authorises the station, not every radio on the aerodrome. A baggage supervisor using 118.300 for company coordination places non-aeronautical traffic on an aeronautical frequency.
2. The inspector directs the operator to shut down the AFIS immediately. What is the correct response, and what records should be produced?
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Comply, but manage the safety consequence rather than simply pulling the breaker. An AFIS is a service to aircraft in flight and on the ground; an unannounced cessation is itself a hazard, so the correct sequence is:
- Acknowledge the direction in writing and confirm the time it takes effect.
- Ask the inspector for a written direction and for the shortest available route to a temporary authorisation - the objective is restoration, not confrontation.
- Notify the parent ATS unit and the aerodrome operator, and arrange publication of the change of service status (NOTAM/AIP supplement, plus broadcast on any remaining authorised frequency).
- Brief based aircraft and operators directly.
- Record the shutdown time, the authority for it, and every notification in the station log.
Produce the station licence (expired), the returned renewal application, the fee correspondence, the station log, the operator certificates, the equipment inventory showing the 121.5 receiver, and any frequency assignment documentation. The absence of coordination paperwork for 130.125 will be apparent from the inventory, so volunteer it rather than let it be discovered.
3. The supervisor argues that 118.300 is 'a public frequency' and that any company radio may use it because the aerodrome holds the licence. Correct that reasoning and state the practical consequence for the station.
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The premise is wrong in two ways. First, a station licence is a permission addressed to a named licensee for a defined station, frequency, power, location and purpose - it does not create a general right of use that the licensee can hand out to third parties. Second, 118.300 is allocated to the aeronautical mobile service; use must be connected with the safe operation of aircraft, not with baggage handling.
Practically, the station is responsible for transmissions made from its authorised equipment and for the conduct of persons it permits to use it. Allowing a non-aeronautical user onto the AFIS frequency risks:
- interference with flight-critical communications and blocked transmissions at the moment a pilot needs the frequency;
- a breach of the licence conditions, which typically bite on the licensee regardless of who pressed the key;
- loss of the audit trail, since the supervisor is not a certificated operator and his traffic will not appear in the log.
The fix is procedural, not technical: withdraw the handheld, give the ramp a separate business-band or landline arrangement, and record the withdrawal. If the aerodrome genuinely needs a company frequency, that is a separate application for a separate assignment.