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.

FMI: www.flypdx.com/HIO_Hair_Rcrtmnt.aspx