Area residents will rally Tuesday, August 28, at 5:30 p.m. outside City Hall to demand that the FAA end the danger from jet aircraft overruns at the Santa Monica Airport by enforcing its own rules.

Congressional help in forcing the FAA to follow its own safety rule is also being sought.

Following the rally, the FAA will present its plans to the City Council on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The airport is surrounded by homes, some less than 250 feet away, and has 18,000 jet operations a year. The runway has no overrun areas. Were it built today, larger aircraft would be barred without such overrun areas, but the FAA has waived its own rules regarding Santa Monica for the convenience of large-jet owners.

The FAA could declare sections of the current runway as overrun areas, but that would prohibit use of the largest planes. The FAA instead favors a long, costly project it claims would partially reduce the danger, while keeping the biggest jets.

In June, a private jet overran a similar runway in Arkansas, smashing into a house, killing two. Seven weeks later, the FAA approved relocation of the airport. At the longer Santa Barbara Airport, a private jet, unable to lift off, ran onto an overrun area. No one died.

A study by a USC scientist shows such accidents at Santa Monica Airport could wipe out dozens of homes. In a time of failing levees and bridges, we deserve the protection cited in the FAA’s own safety rules.

In 2006, there were 137,000 landings and take offs (including 18,000 jets) at Santa Monica Airport.

– Brian Bland, Board member, Friends of Sunset Park

Friends of Sunset Park Board
Statement to the Council:

Regarding the July 31, 2007 proposal by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for safety enhancements at the Santa Monica Airport, the Board of Friends of Sunset Park has taken the following position:

We want immediate implementation of the following safety measures to protect residents, as well as airplane pilots and passengers:

1. Stop the larger and faster aircraft (C and D class) which currently endanger residents, and for which the runway was never designed, from using Santa Monica Airport.

2. Install standards-based 1,000-foot Runway Safety Areas at both ends of the runway. They can be implemented immediately to protect residents right now. We are tired of the FAA playing “runway roulette” with our lives.

If the Santa Monica Airport, as it is currently being used, were built today, FAA standards would require it to have 1,000-foot Runway Safety Areas at both ends of the runway. The airport has NO Runway Safety Areas, thanks to years of stalling and inaction on the part of the FAA.

We deserve to have standards-based safety measures immediately. Sub-standard safety measures, such as those the FAA is now proposing, are unacceptable – particularly in light of the unique proximity of homes to both ends of the runway.

We have watched government officials gamble with the safety of our fellow citizens in the New Orleans levee collapse, in the Minneapolis bridge collapse, and in the Utah mine collapse. The results have been disastrous because the federal government failed to enforce its own safety standards.

For years, the FAA has (a) delayed the implementation of safety measures at our airport, and (b) negotiated in bad faith with our local officials. Enough is enough. We want our City Council to take action now! Residents deserve Safety Now!