AMA TWR CTLR RPTS THAT THE MALSR APCH LIGHTING SYS HAS FAILED SEVERAL TIMES OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS CAUSING NOT ONLY HIGHER LNDG MINIMUMS FOR THE PLTS; AND ASSOCIATED EXPENSE OF DIVERTED AND DELAYED FLTS; BUT AN UNSAFE CONDITION WHEN AN ACFT ON SHORT FINAL HAS THE LIGHTS GO OUT. HE HAS HEARD THAT THE SYS WAS INSTALLED WITH INFERIOR PARTS AND WORKMANSHIP.

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REGARDING NEW MALSR APCH LIGHTS INSTALLED AT AMA ON RWY 4 AND RWY 22 IN LATE 1996. RWY 22 APCH LIGHTS HAVE FAILED ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS CAUSING INCREASED MINIMUMS AND VECTOR DELAYS TO ACFT. AMA ARPT IS SURROUNDED BY FACILITIES WITH VERY BRIGHT LIGHTS; CAUSING PLTS DIFFICULTY IN LOCATING RWY. 'THE BLACK HOLE EFFECT.' THIS EVENT INCREASES CTLR WORKLOAD AND PLT WORKLOAD DURING A CRITICAL TIME OF FLT. THESE FAILURES HAVE OCCURRED DURING WINTER MONTHS WITH FREQUENT IFR CONDITIONS. THE MALSR TO RWY 4 WERE INSTALLED BUT FAILED INSPECTION BY FAA DUE TO WORKMANSHIP AND FAILURE TO OPERATE PROPERLY. THIS CONTRACT HAS TIMED OUT AND HAS NOT BEEN RENEWED. THE CTLRS; PLTS; AND FLYING PUBLIC ARE PAYING FOR THIS EXPENSIVE MISTAKE WITH AN UNSAFE OP. THE CTLRS AND PLTS MUST RELY ON THEIR ABILITIES ALONE TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THE FLYING PUBLIC. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR STATED THAT HE TURNED IN AN UNSAFE CONDITION RPT 2 DAYS AFTER SUBMITTING THIS RPT TO HIS SUPVR WHICH SEEMED TO RESULT IN IMMEDIATE ACTION TO PROPERLY REPAIR THE MALSR LIGHTING SYS. RWY 22 IS NOW UP AND WORKING WELL AND RWY 4 WILL BE VERY SOON SINCE THE TROUBLE IS KNOWN AND A WAIT FOR THE CORRECT PARTS SHOULD BE SHORT. HE BELIEVES THAT THE SYS SHOULD BE OK SINCE THE EXACT TROUBLES HAVE BEEN IDENTED AFTER 14 FAILURES SINCE THE SYS WAS INSTALLED IN OCT/96.