Federal Aviation Administration, DOT

Pt. 171

observed air traffic which may be in
such proximity to the position or intended route of flight of their aircraft
to warrant attention.
Traffic pattern means the flow of aircraft operating on and in the vicinity
of an airport during specified wind conditions as established by appropriate
authority.
VFR traffic means aircraft operated
solely in accordance with Visual Flight
Rules.
Visual flight rules (VFR) means rules
that govern the procedures for conducting flight under visual conditions.
The term  - VFR -  is also used in the
United States to indicate weather conditions that are equal to or greater
than minimum VFR requirements. In
addition,  - VFR -  is used by pilots and
controllers to indicate the type of
flight plan.
Visual meteorological conditions (VMC)
means meteorological conditions expressed in terms of visibility, distance
from clouds, and ceiling equal to or
better than specified minima.
[56 FR 341, Jan. 3, 1991, as amended by Amdt.
170-3, 66 FR 21067, Apr. 27, 2001; Docket FAA-
2017-0733, Amdt. 170-4, 82 FR 34400, July 25,
2017]

Subpart B - Airport Traffic Control
Towers

mit the amortization of the ATCT investment;
(4) The FAA must be furnished appropriate land without cost for construction of the ATCT; and
(5) The airport must meet the benefit-cost ratio criteria specified herein
utilizing three consecutive FAA annual
counts and projections of future traffic
during the expected life of the tower facility. (An FAA annual count is a fiscal
year or a calendar year activity summary. Where actual traffic counts are
unavailable or not recorded, adequately documented FAA estimates of
the scheduled and nonscheduled activity may be used.)
(b) An airport meets the establishment criteria when it satisfies paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(5) of this section and its benefit-cost ratio equals or
exceeds one. As defined in Section 170.3 of this
part, the benefit-cost ratio is the ratio
of the present value of the ATCT life
cycle benefits (BPV) to the present
value of ATCT life cycle costs (CPV).
BPV/CPV-1.0
(c) The satisfaction of all the criteria
listed in this section does not guarantee that the airport will receive an
ATCT.
Section 170.15

Section 170.11 Scope.
This subpart sets forth establishment
and discontinuance criteria for Airport
Traffic Control Towers.
Section 170.13 Airport Traffic Control Tower
(ATCT) establishment criteria.
(a) The following criteria along with
general facility establishment standards must be met before an airport can
qualify for an ATCT:
(1) The airport, whether publicly or
privately owned, must be open to and
available for use by the public as defined in the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982;
(2) The airport must be recognized by
and contained within the National
Plan of Integrated Airport Systems;
(3) The airport owners/authorities
must have entered into appropriate assurances and covenants to guarantee
that the airport will continue in operation for a long enough period to per-

ATCT discontinuance criteria.

An ATCT will be subject to discontinuance when the continued operation and maintenance costs less termination costs (CMPV) of the ATCT
exceed the present value of its remaining life-cycle benefits (BPV):
BPV/CMPV<1.0

Subpart C [Reserved]
PART 171 - NON-FEDERAL
NAVIGATION FACILITIES
Subpart A - VOR Facilities
Sec.
171.1 Scope.
171.3 Requests for IFR procedure.
171.5 Minimum requirements for approval.
171.7 Performance requirements.
171.9 Installation requirements.
171.11 Maintenance and operations requirements.
171.13 Reports.

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