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# Large jets may be banned from Santa Monica Airport
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/large-jets-may-be-banned-from-santa-monica-airport/
- Published: 2002-05-23T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:17:51.000Z
- Author: Andrew Fixmer
- Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica Airport, #archive-import

*Airport proposes to comply with federal regulations*

Large corporate jets landing every day at Santa Monica Airport may be banned from the municipal airfield.

The Airport Commission recommended Monday that the Santa Monica City Council restrict the city-owned airport to only small jets that carry up to six passengers.

An aviation consultant hired to assess airport constraints testified before the commission that the runway would have to be expanded by 1,000 feet to comply with Federal Aviation Administration requirements for large jets — which on average fly into the airport five or six times a day.

Bringing the airport into compliance with federal regulations would require purchasing $100- $200 million worth of single-family homes that surround the runway, rerouting Bundy Drive and relocating a gas station across the street from where airplanes currently take off.

Airport officials called the expansion project unrealistic. Instead, they propose restricting the airport to small jets and shortening the usable runway space by 300 feet on each end to create a buffer zone in the event aircraft over-run the strip.

Larger planes need long runways to get up enough speed to take off and more time to slow down once they land. As a result, they need a much larger runway and designated safety area.

755,A Cessna 340A — a propeller-driven aircraft — skidded off the runway and burst into flames Nov. 13, 2001, killing both the pilot and passenger aboard. Neighbors, some of whom live only 220 feet away from the runway, got a heightened sense of fear when they realized how close they were to having a plane crash into their living room. A guardrail was the only thing that stopped the plane from going down an embankment into the neighborhood.

Residents asked for a safety review of the airport and specifically, that the runways be shortened at both ends to create a buffer zone.

City officials said the neighbors’ request was not the cause behind the safety study. They said the airport continually assesses the facilities to find ways to improve safety.

“Because of the way the airport is situated, we’re always trying to find compatibility with the airport and the surrounding neighborhood,” said deputy city attorney Marty Tachiki.

The FAA requires new airports to make the additional space available at the end of runways, but older fields — like Santa Monica Airport — are often exempted.

“If you are designing and going to build a new airport you have to have an over-run area,” said airport manager Bob Trimborn. “We have very little space between where the runway ends and where our terrain ends.”

> “If you are designing and going to build a new airport you have to have an over-run area,”

> “We have very little space between where the runway ends and where our terrain ends.” — said airport manager Bob Trimborn

The city council will have to hold a public meeting on the commission’s proposal before voting on it.

Airport officials said preventing large planes from landing at the airport would not decrease the volume of daily traffic, just constrict the field to smaller jets which currently make up 5 percent of the total air traffic.

“It would be misleading to suggest that heading in this direction would alter the number of operations,” said airport commissioner Jean Gebman. “Indeed, large aircraft with higher approach speeds could simply be replaced by more smaller planes.”

About 1,300 aircraft take off and land at Santa Monica airport in a month. About 90 percent of them are propeller-driven planes, which conform to the airport’s regulations.

Jets constitute the other 10 percent of total airport traffic, and half of them are non-conforming, large planes.

Though no current or pending federal legislation requires the city to make the restriction, airport officials recommend doing it for safety reasons and to bring the airport into compliance with FAA regulations. The restriction also would protect the city from litigation stemming from a large plane having an accident at the airport.

Cause for concern increased when officials said they found that the large jets are becoming more common at the airport.

“The current aircraft are being used safely,” Trimborn said. “What we are trying to determine is whether this new fleet mix is compatible with FAA design standards.”

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/052302-02_03.jpg)

officials are proposing 300-foot buffer zones at each end of the runway at Santa Monica Airport, which is crowded by a residential neighborhood. (Photo: File photo Airport)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 23, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/052302.pdf?ref=smdp.com)