BUDGET CUTS: Dubuque Air Control Tower To Close

The federal government announced Friday which 150 U.S. airports would be losing their air control towers due to sequester budget cuts.

“There’s going to be close calls, there’s going to be midair’s, there’s going to be a runway accident.” Air Traffic Controller Marnie Ambrose says she fears the worst could happen, right here in Iowa.

The FAA’s initial plan was to close towers in Sioux City, Waterloo, and Dubuque, but when the closure list came down Friday, only Dubuque Regional Airport was on the list.

The closure will happen over a four week period beginning April 7th.

The FAA says the closures won’t impact safety, but many air traffic controllers aren’t buying it.

A tower in Frederick Maryland on the closure list was built less than a year ago using $5.3 million is federal stimulus funds.  Ambrose says it just doesn’t make sense, “then why did they build this tower? In 2010, they said safety was an issue, and then they funded this tower. Now, it’s 2013 and safety will not be affected? Which is it?”

Two other towers built using federal stimulus funds are also set to close, more than $2.8 million was used to build them.