FAA proposes adding larger buffer zones
The City Council could have more than originally anticipated on its plate tonight when it considers banning the fastest jets at Santa Monica Airport, a decision that might be postponed after the Federal Aviation Administration made a proposal late last week to install buffers on the runway.
Just days before the council was expected to ratify an ordinance outlawing Class C and D jets, a move celebrated by neighboring residents who for years have warned against the dangers of aircraft accidentally bypassing runways and landing on homes, the FAA on Friday submitted an offer to install a series of hollow concrete blocks to act as buffers.
The FAA is proposing to install an Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS) — a collection of concrete blocks that give way under the weight of an aircraft, slowing it down in case it overshoots the runway — that could accommodate planes traveling as fast as 70-knots, or roughly 80 miles per hour.
The 70-knot EMAS would be able to stop roughly 90 percent of aircraft for which it is designed to stop, which is 14,000 pounds or more and includes C and D class aircraft, according to FAA spokesman Ian Gregor.
The offer basically adds onto a previous proposal made by the FAA which suggested installing a 40-knot EMAS system that would’ve been smaller but would eat up less runway length.
Included in the new offer is an awareness program in which every pilot flying into or from the airport would receive information about runway safety and noise abatement issues that have been raised by residents in the Sunset Park neighborhood for years. The FAA is also proposing to reduce noise and pollution by changing the way the aircraft line up on runway 21, which is where the majority of flights take off, moving the alignment of the engines so that they no longer face the neighborhoods, Gregor said.
“The result is more aircraft noise staying into the airport than blowing into the residential areas,” he said.
The FAA is also testing a new departure procedure that would reduce the number of aircraft that would idle on the ground. Currently, plans at Santa Monica have to receive clearance from LAX before they can take off. Under the new procedure, the planes at both Santa Monica and Los Angeles could take off simultaneously, Gregor said.
7F6,“It would decrease noise and pollution around Santa Monica and benefit the pilot because they wouldn’t have to wait long to take off,” he said.
City officials have been analyzing the proposal and will discuss it in closed session with the council tonight. A group of delegates from City Hall, including City Manager Lamont Ewell and Mayor Pro Tem Richard Bloom, met with congressional members in late January about safety issues at the airport.
“We are very clear that we need a meaningful runway safety solution for both ends of the runway,” Kate Vernez, assistant to the City Manager, said on Monday.
The outcome of closed session could determine the future of the ordinance.
“That will determine whether or not we pass that ordinance tomorrow night or wait,” Mayor Herb Katz said on Monday.
The council introduced and passed the first reading of the ordinance late last year. The law, if passed, would ban the C and D class aircraft — the former which approaches the runway at 121-140 knots and the latter at 141-165 knots.
The FAA has indicated in the past that it would challenge such an ordinance.
“We think this (proposal) is another excellent safety option for the city to consider,” Gregor said.
Brian Bland, a member of Friends of Sunset Park and serves on the neighborhood group’s airport committee, said he was hopeful that the council would push the ordinance forward, adding he doesn’t want to have to wait another two weeks.
Bland, who learned the FAA had made a proposal over the weekend, said the residents have been trying to pressure the FAA to get the safety issue resolved.
“What we liked to remind the city and the FAA and the congressional staff is this has been going on for years already and it’s time to move ahead,” Bland said. “We’ve been waiting, waiting, waiting ever since the first reading.”
Jump hedline: FAA proposes to add buffer zones to runway
Suggested pullquote: “We’ve been waiting, waiting, waiting ever since the first reading.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 11, 2008. Read the original PDF.