DGAC orders removal of obstacles from the María Dolores de Los Ángeles airfield

The General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC) rejected the work plan presented by Compañía Transmisora Sur SpA and Parque Eólico Campo Lindo SpA and ordered the suppression and removal of the power line towers that obstruct air navigation in the protection zone of the María Dolores Aerodrome, in the commune of Los Ángeles. The decision is contained in exempt resolution No. 2,161, dated September 7, 2026, published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile No. 44,556, on Wednesday, September 23, 2026 (CVE 2871597). The companies have 120 calendar days to execute the works, under penalty of legal action being taken against them.

The administrative act is based on the Aeronautical Code (Law No. 18,916), whose article 15 prohibits the erection of obstacles in protection zones, and on supreme decree No. 106 of 1994, from the Ministry of National Defense, which approved Protection Plan PP-93-08 for the María Dolores Aerodrome and its radio aids. This plan establishes for area “e”, called the Conical Surface, a strip 1,500 meters wide with a height restriction determined by a 5% slope and a height of 45 meters measured from the average level of the runway. The resolution was signed by Humberto Fernández Pittari, Air Brigade General (A), Director General of the DGAC.

Five towers over the conical surface

The DGAC detected the violation in 2023, following the request for Power Line Height Certification (CATE) corresponding to request No. 36407-CATE No. 182/32-11-2022. The structures identified as obstacles are five towers of the Santa Clara-Campo Lindo transmission line, associated with the Campo Lindo Wind Farm:

• Tower No. 21 and Tower No. 22: their total suppression is ordered.
• Tower No. 24: existing height of 55.4 m; maximum permitted height of 28.35 m.
• Tower No. 25: existing height of 55.4 m; maximum permitted height of 17.41 m.
• Tower No. 29: existing height of 35.5 m; maximum permitted height of 26.63 m.

For towers No. 24, No. 25, and No. 29, height reduction, undergrounding, or relocation are interchangeably authorized, provided they strictly adhere to the indicated maximums. All works must be carried out at the expense of the owning companies.

The rejected plan and the background of the case

The Operational Study of the María Dolores Aerodrome, dated February 7, 2025, prepared following an on-site inspection conducted on January 27, 2025, by inspectors Luis Silva and Denis Velásquez, concluded that the structures are dangerous during visual approaches and departures to the north under poor weather conditions, as no minimum crossing altitude exists. The Technical Obstacle Report for the “Campo Lindo SpA” Electrical Line, dated April 9, 2026, from the Department of Aerodromes and Aeronautical Services (DASA), classified the companies’ “Adjustment Plan”—fluorescent paint, strobe lights, beacons, courses, and meteorological equipment—as technically insufficient, because those measures make the obstacle visible but do not eliminate it nor reduce its physical height.

The DGAC formally rejected the plan via official letter (O) No. 09/2/1/0760/4150, dated April 13, 2026, and the submission of May 14, 2026, was dismissed for proposing excessive deadlines based on the negotiation of easements and environmental permits. Previously, the motion for reconsideration with a subsidiary hierarchical appeal filed by Luis Urrejola Martelli, representing both companies, had been declared inadmissible by exempt resolution DGAC No. 2,304, dated October 28, 2025.

Deadline, warning, and maintained measures

The deadline of 120 calendar days is counted from the notification of the act through its publication in the Official Gazette, pursuant to Article 18 of the Aeronautical Code. Article 17 of that legal body obliges anyone who erects obstacles in a protection zone to suppress or remove them at their own expense and without the right to compensation, and Article 23 obliges them to repair any damages caused.

The resolution maintains the signaling measures already implemented—paint, lights, and beacons—and continuous training for local operators until the complete suppression of the obstacles. These operators include the Los Ángeles Flying Club, the Cordillera Flying Club, Helicópteros del Pacífico, Pegasus, and Elliance. The records were also forwarded to the Infraction Section of the DGAC Legal Department.

The decision closes a conflict of more than three years between the aeronautical authority and the wind project companies, and sets a precedent regarding the aerodrome protection regime: the DGAC warned that accepting a plan based solely on signaling “would set a serious regulatory precedent, weakening the aerodrome protection regime and encouraging others to build first and negotiate later.” For the neighbors and users of the María Dolores Aerodrome, the direct effect is the recovery of the safety margins of the conical surface, especially in visual flight conditions with reduced visibility.

Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile, No. 44,556, Wednesday, September 23, 2026, Section II (Particular Regulations), pp. 1-9 (official reference: CVE 2871597).