Nightime Ops For All Planes Also Prohibited

"Get rid of the noisy jets!" That's what state officials and residents living near Teterboro Airport have been saying for over a year... and that's what users of the airport agreed to Wednesday.

Operators based at the busy New Jersey airport pledged to limit night flights and ban the loudest Stage 2 aircraft. All this, to placate nearby homeowners amid fears they might seek to close the airport.

National Air Transportation Association president James Coyne brokered the agreement following a spate of recent accidents at the New Jersey airport. In one of the worst...a corporate jet ran off the runway in February 2005, crossing a highway before slamming into a warehouse. More than 20 people were injured, many of which were bystanders.

Local officials lobbied the FAA following that accident looking to impose restrictions on the number and types of aircraft. The FAA denied the request, because Teterboro accepted $15 million in federal funds -- and federally-funded airports aren't allowed to place restrictions on the public's use.

Denied by the FAA, local authorities and politicians approached local users of the airport to make a voluntary agreement on restrictions.

"We knew that if we continued to anger the community, especially with these terrible accidents," Coyne told the New York Times, "the public may decide they don’t want this airport."

The voluntary agreement bans Stage 2 aircraft -- currently accounting for five percent of operations at Teterboro -- and all operations between 11:00 pm and 6:00 am, with the exception of essential operations such as air ambulance landings.

But you can't please all the people, all the time... as already, residents living around nearby Morristown Airport -- 16 miles distant -- are voicing concern that Wednesday's agreement will increase traffic there.

Officials there say they believe the agreement to be illegal... for the same reasons the FAA denied the city's original request.

FMI: www.teb.com