By Julia Reeves Santa Monica
Thank you for your article in [the Thursday, May 23] Santa Monica Daily Press regarding the possibility of large corporate jets at the Santa Monica Airport being banned from the municipal airfield.
Although I was a long time Santa Monica resident living in a quiet residential area, I have lived fairly close to the Santa Monica Airport since December 1998. There has been a steadily increasing number of jets flying over head in my area, whereas when I first moved here, there was very little noise associated therewith.
Every time now, since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, and the Pentagon, that I hear a plane fly overhead, I stop in my tracks until it is out of sight and sound. That is the profound affect that those events have had on my psyche living here 3,000 miles away from the tragedy. That is not to say that it could not have happened here, as I have read about the foiling of attempts to bomb LAX.
I rarely heard the sound of a plane, small or otherwise during the first year or so of my residence in this area. However, it is now becoming more commonplace to hear the sound of those large jets. You can understand my delight, then, as well as a great sense of relief, at the possibility of the practice of large corporate jets landing and taking off from the airport coming to end.
I can fully understand the apprehension of residents whose homes and lives could be destroyed by an accidental, or otherwise, plane crashing into their homes. I believe this has actually happened in the past when one or more small planes crashed into homes near the airport.
Especially important, I think, at this point in time is to consider the possibility of the airport being used by terrorists, which, I do not think is an unlikely possibility.
So, once again, thank you for your article of timely importance.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 29, 2002. Read the original PDF.