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# Airport neighbors fear they’ll go down in flames
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/airport-neighbors-fear-theyll-go-down-in-flames/
- Published: 2001-12-05T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-22T22:29:51.000Z
- Author: Carolyn Sackariason
- Tags: Crime, Santa Monica Airport, #archive-import

*But ‘safety review’ effort may crash and burn because of 17-year-old agreement*

A recent plane crash at Santa Monica Airport hit too close to home for residents who live nearby.

When a Cessna 340A skidded off the runway and burst into flames Nov. 13, killing both aboard, neighbors — some of whom live only 220 feet away — got a heightened sense of fear when they realized how close they were to having a plane crash in their living room.

That’s why they are asking for a safety review of the airport. They want the runways to be shortened at both ends, to create a buffer zone.

The crash that took the lives of Santa Monica resident Richard Runyon and his passenger, Kathleen Vanis of Marina Del Rey, landed just feet away from homes on 23rd Street, west of the airport. The only thing that stopped it from going down an embankment into the neighborhood was a guardrail.

“What would have happened if this was a not a prop plane but a jet?” asked Arthur Kummer, a resident who lives two blocks away. “Would the houses on 23rd Street been hit by the plane and jet fuel?”

A recent study shows that Santa Monica Airport is unique because it has the closest proximity to neighborhoods than any other airport in the country, said Cathy Larson, a nearby resident and co-chair of Friends of Sunset Park Airport Committee.

She said she has talked to several of her neighbors who have been concerned for years about planes crashing into their homes. The latest crash has brought the fear closer to reality.

“They are really fearful,” Larson said. “I certainly don’t blame them.”

The call for an airport safety review started last year, but it was put on the back burner while neighbors took on the long-fought battle over noise. Area residents won that war in October when the Santa Monica City Council took steps to impose hefty fines for pilots, operators and aircraft that violate mandated noise levels. Instead of a $500 fine for violating noise levels, pilots and operators can expect enforcement of fines between $2,000-$5,000 beginning the middle of this month.

“We were working so hard on the noise issue that we were spread too thin but then this accident of course brought it to the forefront,” Larson said.

Santa Monica Airport has experienced a 50 percent rise in jet traffic in the last three years, which neighbors say has created an outcry over the escalation of noise violations, pollution and potential safety hazards.

But residents may run into turbulence on their flight to peace of mind. Shortening the runway would not comply with a 1984 agreement between the city of Santa Monica and the Federal Aviation Administration, according to a letter from the FAA to Congressman Henry Waxman, who is helping the Friends of Sunset Park Airport Committee in its effort.

“A reduction of the runway length to 4,000 feet would restrict the ability of certain types of aircraft to operate at the airport and would be contrary to the city’s commitment under the agreement,” wrote FAA regional administrator Will Withycombe in response to a request by Waxman last year to shorten the runway.

Larson argues Santa Monica Airport’s safety regulations are outdated and need to be reviewed.

“When the 1984 agreement was implemented 17 years ago, the parties involved never anticipated this current tremendous growth in jet traffic,” she said. “Santa Monica Airport is not compliant with the FAA recommended safety standards as set forth in their advisory circular... yet their representatives have told us that the Santa Monica Airport is considered ‘a safe airport facility.’ What are they waiting for, a disaster?”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 5, 2001.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/120501.pdf?ref=smdp.com)