> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # City staff proposes banning faster jets at Santa Monica Airport over safety concerns - URL: https://www.smdp.com/grounded/ - Published: 2007-10-09T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T03:17:55.000Z - Author: Kevin Herrera - Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica Airport, #archive-import *Banning some aircraft from the SM Airport is a hot issue again* CITY HALL The speedy jet aircraft that have drawn the ire of residents living roughly 300 feet from the Santa Monica Airport may no longer be allowed to use the runway there under a proposal devised by city staff. Bob Trimborn, the acting airport director, is planning to ask the City Council tonight to approve a plan banning faster aircraft, for which the airport was not designed to accommodate. He is also asking for permission to seek runway safety enhancements to stop any aircraft from overrunning the end of a runway, and ask representatives in Washington, D.C. for assistance in doing so. Trimborn said in a report to the council that the airport “does not even come close” to meeting the federally-approved safety standards for faster jet aircraft, which streak down the runway at speeds of 121 knots — 131 mph — or greater. This is putting the lives of neighborhood residents, pilots, passengers and others in jeopardy while exposing City Hall to substantial legal risk. City staff has been working with the Federal Aviation Administration for the last five years on safety enhancements at the airport, however, that effort has produced no tangible results to date. The FAA has rejected enhancements proposed by the city out of concern that some aircraft would no longer be able to use the runway because it would be significantly shortened under City Hall’s plan to essentially take 300 feet on both sides out of operation. During a presentation to the council in August, D. Kirk Shaffer, associate administrator for airports for the FAA, pledged to continue working with City Hall to come to a compromise, but during a recent telephone conversation between Shaffer and City Manager Lamont Ewell, Shaffer is reported to have said that the FAA would continue to stand by the proposal that was rejected by the council for being unsatisfactory. The FAA’s proposal included the installation of two, 130-foot collapsible concrete beds at each end of the runway that would be capable of stopping large aircraft exiting the runway at 40 knots (46 miles per hour) or less. Following the phone call, Trimborn and his staff made the recommendation to ban most jet aircraft, something which is sure to be challenged by the FAA, which entered into a use agreement with City Hall in 1984 that governs airport operations until 2015\. The FAA claims that agreement prevents City Hall from implementing any safety measures that would limit the types of aircraft that can use the airport. Trimborn said the agreement clearly states that the airport would be capable of accommodating “most kinds of aircraft,” and set forth standards making the airport suitable for faster jets, which are using the airport more frequently than ever before. During the 1980s when the agreement was signed, faster craft used the airport about 800 times a year. That grew to 9,000 annual operations in 2006, Trimborn said. “I think they the agreement should be interpreted in one direction and we interpret it the other way and that has been the basis of this misunderstanding,” Trimborn said. “All we want to do is operate the airport as safely as possible. That’s the bottom line.” Since there are no safety areas at either end of the runway, faster jet aircraft have no margin for error. Immediately to the west of the airport is 23rd Street, a busy two-lane road which feeds into the Santa Monica I-10 Freeway. Just over 300 feet from the runway’s end are single family homes. The runway’s west end sits above the roofs of the closest homes, Trimborn said On the other end, the airport is bounded by another busy roadway, Bundy Drive, which is situated 30 feet blow the runway. Across from Bundy there is a dense residential neighborhood with a gas station to the south. Residents on both sides have complained for decades about the dangers of a runway overrun and have called for the installation of runway safety enhancements that include 300-foot runway safety areas. Friends of Sunset Park, an influential neighborhood group that has been fighting the FAA, sent an e-mail to the council in support of banning faster aircraft, however, the group is concerned that a ban could be overturned in exchange for runway safety enhancements, something which residents do not want to see. “It would be extremely disappointing to gain the safety of the elimination of \[faster aircraft\], only to lose it again,” the e-mail states. “Therefore, we believe that the most effective safety measure for all Santa Monica residents will be to permanently keep the larger, faster planes from flying into or out of our city, no matter what additional safety enhancements are installed at the Santa Monica Airport.” Not only will the elimination of those aircraft protect from overruns, it will also reduce air pollution, said Martin Rubin, president of Concerned Citizens Against Airport Pollution, which represents residents living on the Los Angeles side of the airport. “They talk about their right to address the safety of residents around the airport, well, they also have the right to address the potential health risks from pollution from the airport,” Rubin said. “I think (the ban) sounds pretty good to me. They should have done it years ago.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 9, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/100907.pdf?ref=smdp.com)