A Texas town's airspace shrinks after a key navigation beacon is turned off

The Federal Aviation Administration proposes to shrink the controlled airspace around Beeville, Texas. This change happens because a ground-based navigation beacon in Three Rivers, Texas, is being decommissioned.

For decades, aircraft relied on a network of ground-based radio beacons called VORs for navigation. The FAA is now systematically turning off many of these older beacons as part of its VOR Minimum Operational Network (MON) Program, shifting to satellite-based GPS navigation. This small change in Beeville is one of thousands of similar adjustments that will redraw the invisible lines of controlled airspace across the country, affecting how pilots fly and how air traffic is managed in local areas.