By ZINA JOSEPHS is president of Friends of Sunset Park, writing on behalf of the neighborhood organization’s board of directors.
IN RESPONSE TO J. BATES’ COLUMN ON July 22 (”Banning jets is about politics, not public safety,” page 5), here are the facts: Friends of Sunset Park (FOSP) represents the Santa Monica residents most directly affected by Santa Monica Municipal Airport (SMO). The boundaries of Sunset Park include the airport and the 7,000 households to the north and west, including those located less than 300 feet from the west end of the runway.
The FOSP board distributed a questionnaire to all Sunset Park residents that included the question: “What do you like or dislike about living in Sunset Park?” Responses included concerns about traffic, Santa Monica Airport (safety, noise, and pollution), and Santa Monica College.
The agreement between the FAA and City Hall expires in 2015. Residents were asked, “What do you think the future of the airport (227 acres) should be?”
The most popular choices were park/open space; maintain the airport; and mixed use. Only two percent said they wanted to close the airport. Contrary to Bates’ statements, neither the FOSP board, its airport committee, nor Susan Hartley has ever taken a position in favor of shutting down SMO. And, although she is a valued member of the FOSP board and airport committee, Susan has never chaired the airport committee.
Santa Monica Airport’s jet traffic has increased from 4,209 to 18,705 landings and takeoffs per year since 1993; we’re not aware of any studies showing that airport noise has declined during that time, as Bates contends. Nor are we aware of any study showing that jet pollution is less a factor for surrounding neighborhoods than cars and trucks.
Regarding Bates’ Chicken Little statement: It was a federal judge, not FOSP, who stated during a recent hearing involving SMO that “Planes fall out of the sky all the time.” The former head of the National Transportation Board recently told the FAA that it’s unsafe for the larger, faster, Class C and D jets to use the airport. CalTrans officials also expressed concern in a July 21 letter to the FAA.
Bates states: “There are almost no instances of jets landing short or overshooting a runway.” But the International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Associations says: “Since 1990, there have been no less than 807 overruns resulting in significant airframe damage.” Since 1978, at least 27 planes heading toward or leaving Santa Monica Airport have crashed. Luckily, none of those crashes involved jets.
Contrary to Bates’ opinion, there is a great difference in the potential damage from a car jumping a sidewalk curb and a 60,000 pound jet crashing into houses. A USC environmental scientist recently used mapping technology to show that several square blocks of homes adjacent to SMO could be destroyed in the event of a runway overrun similar to one that happened in 2005 at a comparable airport in Texas; it involved a type of plane that uses our airport.
Bates also states that, “Smaller planes don’t necessarily carry less fuel than larger ones.” But how could a Beechcraft Bonanza (maximum weight of 2,725 pounds) carry more fuel than a 60,000 pound Gulfstream IV?
Regarding the latest FAA “safety” proposal: The installation of a crushable concrete (EMAS) runway safety area only one-half the length of a standard EMAS, and only on the west end of the runway, would leave residents on the east unprotected. What’s more, the EMAS manufacturer said that a “half-size”EMAS design wouldn’t stop most of the jets that use SMO.
Bates likes the FAA option of having the city buy and demolish houses. But many of the houses on the airport’s west side were built in the 1930’s, when there were no jets and the runway ended at 25th Street. The increased risk at SMO is the result of the changing fleet mix, with no runway safety areas, not the houses.
Bates’ “political” allegations are groundless. FOSP has not endorsed a candidate since at least 2003. When the City Council unanimously passed the C and D aircraft ban, it was supported not only by FOSP but also by four other Santa Monica neighborhood organizations, by neighborhood organizations in Venice, Mar Vista, and West Los Angeles, and by L.A. Councilman Bill Rosendahl, Assemblyman Ted Lieu, and Representatives Henry Waxman and Jane Harman.
Assembly Joint Resolution 37, supporting the ban, written by Lieu and co-sponsored by Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, has won unanimous endorsement in the Assembly. It will be supported in the State Senate by Senators Sheila Kuehl and Jenny Oropeza.
In other words, Bates’ neighborhood organization, city councilman, assemblyman, state senator, and congressional representative all support the C and D ban. Their aim, like ours, is for a safer Santa Monica Airport.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 24, 2008. Read the original PDF.