Float planes can now fly direct from Canada

TOWER- The Tower Airport is now registered for remote border crossings for seaplanes traveling to and from Canada.
“We are about 20 miles from the Canadian border,” said airport manager John Burgess. “This should bring in some more traffic to our seaplane base.”
The airport can now accommodate users of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection app. Pilots need to go through a security check before using the app, and then they need to report information such as names and passport numbers of any passengers through the app when flying back in from Canada. The airport is now listed for users of Garmin pilot maps.
Burgess said there are currently 25 seaplanes and aircraft based out of the Tower Airport that will be able to use the new system, as well as planes flying in from other areas.
Burgess said the system was supposed to become active as of July 1, but just went online as of Aug. 22. The first plane used the system on Aug. 27 as it flew in from a fishing camp north of the border. Planes can land at the airport to get registered through customs and then proceed to their final destination, if that is not Tower.
Previously, pilots would need to land in Crane Lake or Ely to go through customs.
Burgess said the airport has been working on getting approved for this system for almost three years.
“Our local airport users have been involved in getting this to happen,” he said.
The app will record when a plane lands in Tower, and then it notifies the port of entry office in International Falls. It then lets the pilot know if the flight was approved or not. If not, the customs service could send an agent to the Tower Airport to review the flight, Burgess said.