SPOKANE — The Federal Aviation Administration has decided that five air traffic control towers in Washington state are among 149 that will close beginning April 7 as part of the agency’s sequestration implementation plan.
The five towers are at Olympia Regional Airport; Renton Municipal Airport; Felts Field in Spokane; Tacoma Narrows Airport and the Yakima Air Terminal.
The closures will not force the shutdown of any of those airports, but pilots will be left to coordinate takeoffs and landings among themselves over a shared radio frequency with no help from ground controllers. All pilots are trained to fly using those procedures.
The FAA will begin a four-week phased closure of the 149 towers beginning on April 7.
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