THE TACAN AND DME OF LBB VOR HAVE BEEN OTS SINCE OCT 1996. NO ONE SEEMS WILLING TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR GETTING THEM WORKING AGAIN.

Narrative

THE LUBBOCK TACAN AND DME HAVE BEEN OFF THE AIR SINCE OCT/96. THE LUBBOCK TACAN AND DME WAS OFF THE AIR FOR OVER 6 MONTHS LAST YR (1995). NO ONE HAS TAKEN THE RESPONSIBILITY OF CARING ABOUT THE OUTAGE. THE ARPT MGR PASSES THE BUCK TO THE FAA FACILITIES SECTION WHO; IN TURN; PASSES THE BUCK TO THE FORT WORTH FACILITY DEPT. THE RESULT IS THE PLTS OF ACFT FLOWN IN THE LUBBOCK AREA ARE WITHOUT DME (NOT TO MENTION MIL PLTS WHO ARE WITHOUT THE TACAN). AT ONE TIME THE OUTAGE OF A NAVAID WAS CONSIDERED AN IMPORTANT ITEM. NOW IT SEEMS IT'S PASS THE BUCK. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATES HE WAS VISITED BY THE FAA FACILITIES PERSONNEL JUST YESTERDAY AND THEY SAID THAT THE DME IS BACK ON NOW. THEY HAD SHUT DOWN BECAUSE OF INTERFERENCE AND IN CHKING FOUND THAT THERE WAS A PAGER COMPANY IN TOWN WITH A FREQ VERY CLOSE TO THE TACAN-DME FREQ CAUSING THE INTERFERENCE. FAA HAS WORKED WITH THE COMPANY AND MADE SOME ADJUSTMENTS TO STOP THE INTERFERENCE. LAST YR WHEN THE DME WAS OTS FOR SO LONG RPTR CONTACTED EVERYONE HE COULD THINK OF BUT DID NOT SEND A NASA RPT. THIS TIME WHEN IT WENT OTS AGAIN HE DETERMINED HE WAS NOT GOING TO JUST TALK; HE WROTE LETTERS. HE WROTE TO PROFESSIONAL PLT MAGAZINE AND SEVERAL OTHER PUBS AND SENT THE NASA RPT. HE BELIEVES HE MUST HAVE 'PULLED THE RIGHT CHAIN' THIS TIME SINCE HE GOT ACTION. HE FLIES FOR A SMALL CHARTER OP AND WAS FLYING THE BE20.