Last month’s crash of a small jet at Santa Monica Airport has reignited the debate over whether or not the airport should be closed.
So, this week’s Q-Line question asked:
Do you think the crash highlights what’s wrong with the airport or was it just a tragic accident?
Here are your responses:
“I think that the crash was just a tragic accident. I’m just sick of all the people who live around the airport who want to close it down. The airport was there long before they even moved in, and they knew it was there. Now they’re trying to close it. It just doesn’t make sense. We need the Santa Monica Airport.
“I think the airport is an utmost necessity. I think that the crash was just a tragic accident. We desperately need our airport. It does a lot of good. What if there’s a major tragedy? We need that airport as an adjunct to LAX. If there’s a major tragedy, people need to get out. It is an utmost, dire necessity.”
“I think the crash was just a terrible accident. It seems that perhaps pilot error, something about mechanical failure — those kinds of things just happen throughout the city of Los Angeles and Santa Monica. You cannot prevent them. The airport is a very positive aspect of our community. It’s a wonderful space around the airport and all the things that have been added to it make it a delightful place. The landing and taking off of planes is very interesting. I do think that perhaps at night the corporation jets should be somehow made more quiet, but other than that I think it really runs well. The whole notion of trying to close the airport is just nonsense.”
“What’s wrong at the Santa Monica Airport is the jets that should never have been allowed to use it. A piston-engine aircraft would have never caused as much damage or as intense of a fire. Get rid of jets, and for emergency needs use helicopters so the length of the runway is not an issue.”
“I think the crash at the airport was just a tragic accident. The people of Santa Monica are all a bunch of whiners. They bought their houses long after the airport was already put in place. They knew the airport was there when they bought their house. Now they want to cry about it and close it down. Too bad for them. Keep the airport.”
“Yes, it was a tragic accident, but it certainly highlights what’s wrong with the airport and why we no longer need this noisy, polluting, highly dangerous neighbor. I read some disturbing statistics on what would have happened had it been a larger jet which crashed on take off. And the suggestion is that we lose several blocks of our beloved city here in Santa Monica and it’s been past time to replace it with something we can all use. Hey, how about a park? Anything would be better than those jets flying over our heads.”
“Yes, I think that the airport should be closed and the crash highlights what’s wrong with the airport; just too many airplanes coming in now. It seems it was nice and small when we first moved in 20 years ago, and now the onset of LAX not taking people that wanted to go to LAX. All that Santa Monica is doing is giving money to the planes that are disturbing to the neighbors. My other question would be, didn’t they have a law about all the people in the planes? That distresses me, as far as safety and issues regarding who is on the planes and what kind of security and safety checks the passengers are actually going through in these small airports. Because, I know at LAX, we have to go through a lot of trouble to get on a plane and everybody knows our name and has a law for everyone on that plane. So, I’d be curious to know how the security works at these airports, seeing as they didn’t know who the passengers were on the plane and I’d think that every small plane would have a log of all passengers.”
“The intensity of the jet fuel-fed fire that destroyed the plane and hangar at Santa Monica Airport underlines the danger of Santa Monica Airport being a jet landing field. This small jet killed its four passengers. Imagine what might happen if one of the many larger, faster jets that use the airport had careened off the runway or overshot the landing area. … Santa Monica Airport is not designed to safely handle the larger jets that have to land at about 150 miles an hour to keep from stalling before they touch down. They are too big and too fast. L.A.’s Van Nuys is suitable for such aircraft, but apparently it is not convenient for wealthy Westside residents and their companies.”
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