City
Moves to Ground Large Planes
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By Anita Varghese
Staff Writer
October 10 -- The City Council
directed staff Tuesday to draft an
ordinance limiting the use of large
airplanes at Santa Monica Airport
and allow only airplanes that can
safely operate at slower approach
speeds.
Council members also directed staff
to seek runway safety enhancements
that apply to all categories of aircraft
that use the airport and to explore
legislative options for aircraft operations
at Santa Monica Airport.
City officials had been discussing
runway safety enhancements with the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
since 2002, with the agency’s
latest proposal deemed inappropriate,
because City officials allege the
plan does not meet the federal government’s
own safety standards.
“The lack of safety areas on
either end of the runway is a crucial
safety element for the airport with
homes as close as they are,”
said Robert Trimborn, Santa Monica
Airport’s acting director.
“Overruns of aircraft on either
end could be a potentially dangerous
situation because there is no space
for the aircraft to go unless it reaches
the end.”
Santa Monica Airport was designed
for A and B category aircraft, which
have slower approach speeds (less
than 121 knots) than the increasing
number of C and D aircraft that currently
use the airport.
The airport does not meet current
runway safety standards for A and
B aircraft, Trimborn said, and does
not even come close to meeting runway
safety standards for C and D aircraft.
Kirk Shaffer, the FAA’s associate
administrator for airports, presented
the federal government’s plan
for runway safety at Santa Monica
Airport in August, but City officials
and residents were vehemently opposed
to the plan, because it was based
on large aircraft research.
“That concept was unanimously
rejected by staff and Council, but
Shaffer reaffirmed last week that
the concept is the FAA’s bottom
line as far as their proposal for
runway safety areas for the airport,”
Trimborn said.
In September, Congressman Henry Waxman
began a colloquy process in the U.S.
House of Representatives to assist
the City with its legislative options.
Waxman, whose district includes Santa
Monica, reached an agreement with
the House Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee to bring all parties together
to find a runway safety solution that
includes enhancements designed to
stop overruns from any aircraft using
the airport.
Federal law limits the City’s
options, but the City does have proprietary
power to create or enforce safety
standards to protect residents and
airport users.
Waxman began the colloquy process
when the U.S. House discussed the
FAA Reauthorization Act.
Neighboring residents have been calling
for a curb on jet traffic.
“The position statement of
the board of directors of the Friends
of Sunset Park is that Santa Monica
Airport must comply with federal safety
standards,” said board member
Lorraine Sanchez.
“The city ordinance must eliminate
larger, faster and unsafe C and D
aircraft from the fleet mix at the
airport. We further support the City’s
efforts to continue implementing more
safety enhancements through legislative
and other means.”
Residents of Sunset Park, Mar Vista
and West Los Angeles told Council
members they are very concerned about
runway safety as well as air and noise
pollution caused by jets.
Council members heeded the residents'
call.
“At this point, having done
everything we can to cooperate with
the FAA in listening to them and going
back and forth, I believe it is entirely
appropriate for the Council to act
on what the community is saying to
us,” said Council member Kevin
McKeown.
“Everyone made it very clear
how widespread and how serious the
safety concerns are about Santa Monica
Airport.”
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