Land owners at odds with FAA over aviation equipment on farm

ATLANTA –  Federal aviation officials say a massive crop-watering structure creates radio interference for pilots over Georgia, but landowners say they had permission for it to be within 1,000 feet (300-meters) of the communications equipment.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the irrigation structure on a south Georgia farm interferes with its radio transmitter to relay signals to aircraft.

In a lawsuit filed late last year, federal officials said the structure compromised flight safety and forced the FAA to shut down its transmitter in February 2017, affecting the operations of nine airports.

But the landowners say in recently filed court documents that an FAA official had waived the requirement and allowed the irrigation equipment to be placed closer to the communications antenna on their Pulaski County farm.

The U.S. Attorney's Office wants the structure moved.