NEW RWY IDENT NUMBERING CAUSING CONFUSING AND INCREASING WORKLOAD AT MSN ARPT; WI.

Date: 2000-01

Synopsis

NEW RWY IDENT NUMBERING CAUSING CONFUSING AND INCREASING WORKLOAD AT MSN ARPT; WI.

Narrative

A NEW RWY HAS BEEN CONSTRUCTED AT THE DANE COUNTY REGIONAL ARPT IN MADISON; WI (MSN). THE NEW RWY IS NUMBERED 3/21 -- IT REPLACES RWY 4/22. IN THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS SINCE THE NEW RWY HAS BEEN IN USE; PLTS AND CTLRS HAVE CONFUSED RWY 21 WITH RWY 31; AS THE 2 RWY NUMBERS ARE VERY SIMILAR SOUNDING. THIS PROB DID NOT EXIST WHEN RWY 4/22 WAS IN USE. AS A SOLUTION; IT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED TO THE ARPT MGR THROUGH THE FAA TWR MGR THAT RWY 13/31 BE RENUMBERED TO 14/32. THE REASON FOR THE CHANGE IS TWOFOLD. FIRST; THE NEW NUMBER WOULD ELIMINATE THE POTENTIAL FOR CONFUSION WITH SIMILAR SOUNDING NUMBERS. SECONDLY; THE ACTUAL MAGNETIC HDG OF RWY 31 IS 317.2 DEGS; WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY CLOSER TO 320 DEGS THAN 310 DEGS. IT WOULD APPEAR THAT RWY 13/31 HAS BEEN MISNUMBERED FOR MANY YRS. I BELIEVE THAT RWY 13/31 MAY HAVE BEEN MISNUMBERED ORIGINALLY TO PREVENT CONFUSION WITH RWY 4/22. ARPT MGMNT IS RESISTING THE CHANGE BECAUSE OF THE COST INVOLVED IN PAINTING AND NEW SIGNAGE. FAA MGMNT IS BEING VERY PASSIVE BECAUSE THEY DO NOT WANT TO MAKE WAVES WITH THE ARPT COMMISSION. MEANWHILE; PLTS AND CTLRS DO THEIR BEST TO AVOID MIX-UPS WITH THE VERY SIMILAR SOUNDING RWYS. I AM PERSONALLY ASKED TO CLARIFY A RWY CLRNC ALMOST DAILY.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.