Proposed decommissioning of West Maitland non-directional beacon

Airservices Australia is proposing to decommission the West Maitland (WMD) non-directional beacon (NDB) due to obsolescence and redundancy.

The issue

The WMD NDB is currently part of the backup navigation network (BNN), however, its removal will not compromise BNN functionality.

There has been no NDB approach procedure for West Maitland since its withdrawal in 2016.

The NDB is at the end of its economic life and no longer serves a primary function in the BNN.

The Williamtown NDB range fully covers the WMD NDB area.  Additionally, NDB approach procedures exist at Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Williamtown (Newcastle).  Williamtown also has an instrument landing system (ILS) available, and radar coverage is available for navigational assistance.

Decommissioning of the WMD NDB will result in the following changes to the aeronautical information package (AIP):  

• removal of the WMD NDB details from en route supplement Australia (ERSA); and 
• updates to charts and documentation to remove references to the navaid. 

Purpose

Airservices Australia is proposing to decommission the WMD NDB and seeks feedback from aircraft operators and industry stakeholders to understand their current usage of the NDB, and to assess any potential operational impacts.