NIMBYs Use Accident As Rallying Cry Against Airport
The July downing of a vintage jet fighter near Hillsboro, OR has
ignited questions of residential encroachment near the airport...
and has even cast doubt on the future of the popular Oregon
International Air Show.
As Aero-News reported, pilot
Robert Guilford (below, right) died when his 1951 Hawker Hunter
went down in a neighborhood west of Hillsboro Airport July 16
shortly after take off. The plane damaged three homes, and
destroyed a fourth... but there were no reports of injuries to
those on the ground.
Guilford, an aviation attorney and flight instructor with over
4,000 flight hours since 1961, had displayed the Hunter at the air
show, but was not a performer. He was heading back home to
California when the accident occurred.
The Forest Grove News-Tribune reports at a Thursday meeting of
the Hillsboro Airport Issues Roundtable -- created in March 2006 to
present airport issues to the public -- Port of Portland general
aviation manager Steve Nagy said the future of the air show is in
doubt... and a final decision will come in November.
"What is the general consensus you have heard from people in the
community?" Nagy asked members of the group, highlighting the
importance of public opinion in reaching that decision.
Oregon International Air Show president Judy Willey says
approximately 90 percent of the feedback she has received has been
positive... but added the organization intends to place
restrictions on warbirds in the wake of the accident.
"We are not taking the stance that we put on a perfect air
show," Willey said. "There’s always room for improvement in
anything you do, and we’re looking to make sure nothing like
this happens ever again."
The accident was the first in the 18-year history of the annual
show.
Messages of support were generally echoed by Willey's fellow
panel members. "Even folks who don’t attend the show are not
strongly against it," said Tom Little. "People are looking at it as
a tragic accident which should not alone be a reason to stop the
air show."
Even if the air show goes on, however, others on the panel said
the July crash highlights the dangers of residential areas coming
ever-closer to busy airports.
"Over time, the airport has grown up, and the community has
grown up around it," said Chris Corich, land use planning manager
for the Port of Portland. "Frankly, it’s not atypical of what
has happened in other communities."
Corich added Hillsboro complies with federal runway protection
standards, and that most properties abutting the airport are
industrial. The closest any runway at Hillsboro comes to a
residence is 1,700 feet, he said, adding some airports in
California have runways as close as 550 feet from housing.
While the air
show-related crash has been a lightning rod of sorts for people who
oppose the airport, the News-Tribune reports most concerns
expressed at the roundtable meeting had to do less with safety, and
more to do with day-to-day nuisances such as noise.
But questions of safety were still the rallying cry for airport
opponents.
"I think it’s morally and ethically questionable what is
going on here," airport neighbor Miki Barnes told the panel, citing
the amount of student traffic at Hillsboro as an area of
concern.
"We didn’t move closer to the airport, it moved closer to
us," echoed resident Linda Mokler, adding increased air traffic at
Hillsboro over the years has resulted in much more noise. "If we
sell our home, we’ll have to disclose a noise issue that
wasn’t their when we bought our home."
Nagy responded noise complaints have grown as a result of
population growth... and not necessarily due to airport activity.
Nevertheless, annual operations at Hillsboro have increased from
about 180,000 in the mid-1980s to about 230,000 today.
ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.16.24)
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