US

Shifting North Pole Forces Tampa Airport to Remodel Runways

The North Pole is shifting. More specifically, the earth’s magnetic field is ever changing, just slightly. It‘s that shifting that has forced Tampa International Airport to repaint all its runways so that the numbers on them accurately reflect the compass headings they’re supposed to represent.

Fox 13 in Tampa reports:

According to National Geographic.com , the magnetic north pole is moving toward Russia at about 25 miles per year. Researchers say it is likely a “normal oscillation” of the Earth’s magnetic field, rather than the beginning of reversal of the fields.

Airport runways are numbered to correspond with the magnetic heading they face.  For example, a south-pointing runway would be numbered 18, for 180 degrees.  An east-facing runway is numbered 09, for 90 degrees.

So now, there won‘t be planes landing on TIA’s  main runway for another week. All the markings painted for pilots on the runway and taxiways must be changed, because they’re all about ten degrees off.

“It’s very important. The pilots identify what runway they’re on by looking at their compass. So the runway has to align numberwise with the compass heading to make it safe and consistent,” TIA Director of Operations Robert Burr told Fox 13.

And just in case you started to worry that the earth itself is shifting, don’t. According to Burr, it‘s only the earth’s magnetic field that’s moving.

“The world’s in the same place; it’s the magnetic field of the earth actually shifts. The magnetic pole actually moves around several hundred miles,” Burr explained.

Comments (59)

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  • Tennessee Veteran
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 12:09pm

    I think it is Flav-O-Flave and all that bling disrupting the magnetic poles.

    Report Post » Tennessee Veteran  
  • mcpbob
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 11:51am

    geez, i wonder why they never factor that into the GLOBAL WARMING/COOLING crap …thats why there is no chance that MAN has anything to do with weather changing…..

    Report Post » mcpbob  
  • trouble13
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 11:17am

    I wonder if this event ties into another story that is currently being reported about mass amounts of fish and birds all crshing into the ground for some msyterous reason. 25 miles is a big shift and many migratory creatures like birds and fish use the magnetic poles as navigation guides. Perhaps this explains the mysterous “mass suicides” of these animals. It is just a hypothesis on my part but it might be a reasonable explination of why this phenomia is taking place all over the world.

    Report Post »  
    • deskpilot
      Posted on January 7, 2011 at 11:45am

      The movie THE CORE (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298814/) explored this phenomena. SCI-FI or preminiscient? The shift itself has been an ever present, exceptionally slow, process in our world, but it would seem as though only the BEES KNOW…

      Report Post »  
  • Slobaphobe
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 10:53am

    Thank you for flying Surprise Airlines. For those of you who thought you were landing in Tampa I think you will find Miami just as nice.

    Report Post »  
  • deskpilot
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 10:20am

    http://dtpp.myairplane.com/pdfs/00416AD.PDF is the official FAA diagram of KTPA.
    The arrows at the top right indicate the MAGNETIC NORTH and its MAGNETIC VARIANCE (MAGVAR) of 0.1W indicating that according to historical raferences, Magnetic North has been swinging westerly. This precession of the pole necessitates the change. Note also that this chart has an expiration date. A new chart will be published later this month that reflects the first change, and then another published when the next runway is complete and then a third. This is the type of coordination the the airport manager and the FAA have to work towards. This is a good reflection on the type of cooperation and contractual issues that is possible between the gov’t (FAA), public sector (KTPA) and the private sector(The contrators doing the work).

    http://dtpp.myairplane.com/pdfs/00416IL36L.PDF is the Instrument Landing System (ILS) chart for RWY 36L. When you see the new edition of this chart set for KTPA, the heading data and runway day will be updated to reflect the changes underway.

    In the end, this will increase the overall safety of flight operation in the KTPA area. No new flight paths are created, just a large amount of referenced data has to be updated.

    A fascinating lesson in geography/ & cartography.

    Report Post »  
  • avia58
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 10:10am

    I don’t really understand why this is news. The poles are moving constantly and this affects every airport in the word. Runway numbers are changed as needed to more closely align with the magnetic north pole. Runways are numbered with reference to the magnetic poles, not the geographical north pole. Don’t worry folks, it’s no big deal. I guess the real news item is that the repainting of the runway numbers could cause some short delays while the work is being done.

    Report Post »  
  • the point
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 9:41am

    What about all the other airports???HMMMMM

    Report Post »  
  • Daniel4
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 9:31am

    How can we be sure that the Russians aren’t trying to steal the North Pole. Once they control the North Pole, they can cause us to waste huge sums of money renumbering runways and reprinting aviation maps.

    Then there is the issue of North Pole sovereignty. Russia will have jurisdiction over Santa’s Workshop. Think of the children! Oh the inhumanity of it all!

    Report Post »  
  • Duff
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 9:19am

    Damn global warming, somebody call the EPA. Or would it be the FCC because it’s magnetic and acts as some form of communication.

    Regulators, Ride! (<-quote from the movie Young Guns)

    Report Post »  
  • arjundawg
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 8:45am

    TIA has 3 runways 2 facing roughly N-S and the other roughly E-W
    This is stupid and completely unecessary.

    Report Post »  
    • RWNJ01
      Posted on January 7, 2011 at 9:15am

      So, you just admitted to not knowing anything about airport operations, navigation or aviation safety, well done!

      Report Post »  
  • not funny
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 8:44am

    December 21, 2012…….what are the predictions?

    Report Post »  
  • navman54
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 8:43am

    When talking of the North Pole you have to be a bit more precise, since there are actually two (2) north poles. The “geographic” North Pole which is located at the very top of our planet earth, and the “magnetic” North Pole that’s physically located many hundreds of miles away in the Northwest Territories of Canada. It’s the latter north pole that continually shifts with the passage of time, requiring navigation charts to be updated every so many years; however it is a very slow change. But evidently enough time has passed – and the magnetic runway headings have changed enough – so that the painted runway directions at Tampa International need re-numbering. A little inconvenient and probably somewhat costly….but it will put a few people to work!

    Report Post »  
  • mcFirst
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 8:40am

    could be related to planet x, planet nibiru. A pole shift is the key change from this planet.

    Report Post » mcFirst  
  • clockwatcher
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 8:30am

    The social left wing wants to blame Bush.

    Report Post » clockwatcher  
  • danjag
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 8:27am

    It‘s not the pole shift you’re looking for (Jedi hand wave in front of you). Imagine the chaos when the poles DO shift. I think of it this way: The Earth is basically one big magnet. So is the Sun. Magnets tend to align themselves with each other. Hmmm. And the seas are thrown from their basins?

    Report Post »  
  • GeauxAlready
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 8:26am

    Don’t you just hate it, when your Pole shifts……………

    Report Post » SpankDaMonkey  
  • Whole Nine Yards
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 8:16am

    Soooo …. what about all the OTHER airports out there? Let;s hope the Gubment (sic) if fixing them as well. Righttttttttt

    Whole Nine Yards  
  • Independent Tess
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 8:16am

    The reversal of the magnetic poles which occurs naturally is fascinating to me. Wonder what kind of disruption this would cause to our society, communications, all our technology, etc, if it happens……..

    Report Post » Independent Tess  
    • Juan Gault
      Posted on January 7, 2011 at 4:07pm

      Some offer a premise of north and south pole reversals, as have happened several times over many years. Evidence offered, large animals frozen in the Northern ice with tropical plants ingested in their stomachs. And Vice Versa. Jes saying.
      If true, and that remains a big if, not to worry, no one living would likely survive the rapid pole reversals!

      if this premise is of interest, Google, Edgar Cayce, and magnetic pole reversal. He wrote on this subject decades ago.

      Report Post »  
  • Crazy Horse
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 8:14am

    Must be why the magnets on my fridge keep dropping.

    Report Post »  
  • ilovethiscountry
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 8:11am

    Magnetic north changes all the time. I learned this in grade school about a hundred years ago. When the explorers were up there, they couldn’t play baseball on the nort pole and have home plate on the north pole because it constantly moves.

    Report Post »  
  • Ialmostforgot
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 8:07am

    Me thinks someone just screwed up painting the numbers the first time.
    CYA — aaaaahhhh the north pole shifted, yeah, thats it, they were right when i painted them,,,,, hic.

    Report Post »  
    • Ialmostforgot
      Posted on January 8, 2011 at 8:41am

      It just goes to show ya that nothing in life is as stable as you think it is.
      Everything changes.
      I wonder if the Rock of Gibraltar has moved any?

      Report Post »  
  • grandmaof5
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 8:04am

    At least they didn’t blame it on global warming…where in the world is Al? Actually, a very interesting piece and something most of us never realized, I’m sure.

    Report Post »  
    • CatB
      Posted on January 7, 2011 at 11:33pm

      Al only shows up in the HEAT of July or August … in winter he is lounging in his new mansion on the coast of California … counting his ill gotten gains.

      Report Post »  
  • heavyduty
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 8:03am

    That’s why Santa has a hard time finding his way back home every year. But why is this news unless we are planning to send all the liberals to the North pole. Hopefully never to come back.

    Report Post »  
    • Eblaze44
      Posted on January 7, 2011 at 9:11pm

      then there really would be a “global warming” problem – all that hot air at the North Pole would surely melt the ice cap.

      Report Post » Eblaze44  
  • tobywil2
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 8:01am

    Would it be cost-effective to use LCD signs instead of paint? http://commonsense21c.com/

    Report Post » tobywil2  
    • foolsgold
      Posted on January 7, 2011 at 11:59am

      If this is the quality of your ‘common sense’ then get a refund on your high school education

      LCD lights on a runway? Huh? You’v obviously never been near a cockpit or know where the runway lines are painted: One 747 (thats a big, big plane if you wernt aware) landing on your genius common sense LCD sign sitting on the runway threshold should knock some common sense into you.

      Select Palin for GOP 2012 to Reelect Obama!  
    • BibleBrain
      Posted on January 7, 2011 at 12:51pm

      No because it is in the huge font painted on the runway that enables pilots, like myself, to see from far away even at high altitudes.

      Report Post » BibleBrain  
    • canuck44
      Posted on January 8, 2011 at 8:16am

      Interestingly enough LEDs don’t melt snow and will be at the end of snowplow blades up North. They can’t even be used on traffic lights as they produce almost no heat.

      Maybe it is time to jag in the magnetic compass and require GPS and feeds off of them to true compasses. Even now in many northern latitudes the magnetic compass is entirely useless when the deviation is 35 degrees or more.

      The government requires basic equipment on all aircraft and that includes General Aviation. Why not GPS now that the cost has dropped dramatically and each aircraft can be retrofitted with this system without any difficulty whatsoever. Interestingly enough in East Africa where only one or two beacons at a time actually function in Kenya and similar countries, every Aircraft has a fitted GPS with a sign on it “Not To Be Used for Navigation” yet everyone uses them as they have no choice.

      Report Post »  
  • tobywil2
    Posted on January 7, 2011 at 8:00am

    Just like our cold winter it is probably caused by carbon dioxide. Oh, where is Al Gore when we need him. http://commonsense21c.com/

    Report Post » tobywil2  
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