Politics & Government
FAA to Close Athens-Ben Epps Control Tower
The tower is one of 149 regional airport control towers to close starting next month due to federal budget cuts.
On Friday afternoon, the Federal Aviation Administration announced it will close 149 regional airport control towers starting in April, including the tower at Athens-Ben Epps airport.
The closures are a result of budget cuts. The FAA was forced to cut nearly $600 million from its $48 billion budget, according to CNN.com.
The FAA plans to begin shutting down control towers nationwide on April 7. It should take four weeks close all of the towers.
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When the Athens tower closes, off-hours communications procedures that had already been in place will be in effect 24 hours a day, the Athens Banner-Herald reports.
Control towers at Lawrenceville's Briscoe Field and at regional airports in Albany, Macon and Cobb County are also slated to close. DeKalb Peachtree Airport in Atlanta's tower was spared. Click here for a complete list of closures.
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