A PAPI LIGHTING SYS WAS RECENTLY INSTALLED AT CSG; GA; AND IS REMOTELY CTLED BY THE TWR. RPTR STATES THE LIGHT SYS IS NOT VISIBLE FROM THE TWR AND THERE IS NO MONITOR TO DETERMINE IF THE LIGHTS ARE WORKING PROPERLY.

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THE FAA RECENTLY INSTALLED AND COMMISSIONED A NEW PAPI LIGHT SYS FOR RWY 5 AT COLUMBUS. THE NEW SYS AND THE EXISTING MALSR ARE RADIO CTLED FROM THE TWR. WHEN A BUTTON IS PUSHED IN THE TWR; A RADIO SIGNAL IS XMITTED WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO CTL THE PAPI. UNFORTUNATELY; THERE IS NO SIGNAL OF ANY KIND SENT BACK TO THE TWR. THUS THE ONLY WAY TO DETERMINE IF THE LIGHTS ARE WORKING PROPERLY; IS TO ASK A PLT. THIS SYS APPARENTLY CAN BE CONFUSED BY PWR FLUCTUATIONS; GARBLED RADIO CTL SIGNALS OR PUSHING THE BUTTONS IN SUCCESSION TOO RAPIDLY. ALSO; SWITCHING BTWN AIR-TO-GND AND GND-TO-GND MODE CAN HAVE UNEXPECTED RESULTS. WE CAN SEE THE RWY LIGHTS AND REIL LIGHTS FROM THE TWR. WE HAVE ELECTRONIC MONITORS FOR THE ILS NAVAIDS. THERE SHOULD BE SOME TYPE OF ACCURATE MONITORING SYS FOR THE PAPI AND MALSR SYS AS THESE ARE PROVIDED FOR SAFETY OF FLT. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR SAID THE PAPI SYS WAS INSTALLED AROUND JUN/98 AND HAS BEEN WORKING FINE. CLAIMS THE TECHNICIANS WHO MAINTAIN THE SYS ARE LOCATED IN ATL; 100 MI AWAY AND HAVE A MONITOR SYS TO DETERMINE IF THE SYS AT CSG HAS A MALFUNCTION. RPTR BELIEVES THE SYS SHOULD INCLUDE A MONITOR IN THE TWR. THE ARPT IS USED MOSTLY BY GA AND AIR TAXI ACFT.