Potsdam Municipal Airport - Damon Field

Recent changes to the instrument approach to runway 5 at Massena will cause increased traffic in the Potsdam area.  The Potsdam NDB (PTD) is now one of the initial approach fixes to the Massena ILS RWY 5.  IFR aircraft inbound to Massena from the south and east will probably use PTD as the initial approach fix.   These aircraft will cross PTD as low as 2800 MSL and then proceed northwest to DORIE intersection which is about one mile north of Norwood.  At DORIE, the aircraft will turn right, begin to descend, and proceed direct to Massena.   

Because their destination is Massena, it is quite likely that the pilots of these aircraft will be monitoring 123.0, not 122.8.  Furthermore, because the initial CTAF call is usually made about 10 miles from destination, it is possible that these aircraft will not make a call on 123.0 until past PTD.  So, the bottom line is that we can expect increased traffic in the Potsdam area, and this traffic will probably not be announcing on or monitoring 122.8.   Obviously, this situation calls for extra vigilance when flying in the Potsdam area.

The Village of Potsdam has raised this concern to the FAA and asked that they review area CTAF frequency assignment.  It is possible that as a result of this there could be more shared frequencies.