Quote of the Week: "It continues the pattern of complete disregard by the FAA for the quality of life of the residents of North Jersey," New Jersey Congressman Steve Rothman complaining about the FAA's Airspace Redesign Plan details which were released this week
Aviation Conspiracy Newsletter #421.........................................................................March 18, 2007 Past newsletters can be accessed at: http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/ACNewsmenu.htm The PASSUR airport flight tracking system at many major U.S. airports http://www.passur.com/sites.htm (you must have Java installed to view it). If you want to get the newsletter sent to you every week, sign up to AviationWatch. Bill Mulcahy rockaway@prodigy.net
New Jersey, Pennsylvania Politicians Blast FAA Airspace Plan
As
Bill
Sees It: (Editorial):
New York "Authority" Assures Future Victims Of "New" Stewart
Airport: The RUSH to build a giant air cargo terminal and hide its
impacts from the public is on. I attended what was billed the "Regional Economic Summit" at Ulster
Community College in upstate New York. This was a public relations effort by the
Port Authority of NY/NJ to make it look
like they were engaging the
"community" in the planning of what they have in the past called the
"4th major N.Y. City area airport." The first thing I noticed at
the meeting was that everyone was wearing suits. The meeting consisted, not the
public, but mostly of people who thought they could make a profit from the
planned Port Authority buying of the Stewart Airport lease this October!!! I
was pleasantly surprised however during the question and answer segment where
people from the audience got up and asked questions to the panel. Half the
questions were obviously hostile to the Port Authority building their atrocity
in the Hudson Valley!!! Apparently a few environmentalists, besides
myself, had somehow got into this businessmen's meeting. By the time the
Port Authority executive director spoke it was clear he knew that a vocal
minority in the audience strongly
opposed his building a large airport in the Hudson Valley. He assured the
audience that Stewart Airport would not be the same size as N.Y. City airports. I
don't believe him. I think that the real plan is to build a giant, heavily
night operating, air cargo hub that will destroy the sleep and quality of life
for this beautiful natural area. The battle is just beginning. FAA
Issues Press Release On Airspace
Redesign Plan For New York, New Jersey and Pennslyvania: The next
step in the FAA's latest assault on Americans. Of course all the senators,
congressmen are lining up opposing it while secretly negotiating with the
airports for jobs for the friends, supporters and no doubt relatives. Airbus 380
Looks TOO BIG To Be Flying Passengers!!! I don't like planes
and usually I dislike big planes more; but watching the Airbus 380 landing at
JFK Airport, it just seemed too big!!! It seemed very low to the runway with its
huge engines almost touching the ground. Its heavy wings seemed seemed to flap as it landed. I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if this
thing had a hard landing. I predict it will just take one of these monsters
crashing to finish it as a passenger plane. If one of these fully fueled
monsters wipes out a community, it may be finished as even a cargo plane, which
I think is the real reason it was first conceived. I saw one glowing news
account that said the Airbus 380 was "75 percent less noisier than a Boeing 747." To
actually know the noise
impact this plane it would have to take off fully loaded; something that
obviously didn't happen...at least in front of the cameras and microphones. It
may be years before we find out how dangerous this plane is, unless it is built
and flown in large numbers. I warned for years about how dangerous the
Concorde was, but it wasn't until one crashed that it statistically became the
most dangerous plane model ever to fly.
Philadelphia,
New Jersey Communities Not Happy With FAA Airspace Redesign Announcement: Despite
staunch opposition from an army of local elected officials, the Federal Aviation
Administration Friday announced a preferred airspace redesign alternative for
the Northeast that would re-route considerable air traffic over Delaware County
from the Philadelphia International Airport. County Council Chairman Andy
Reilly’s dire forecast of a "disaster for Delaware County" Thursday
proved accurate as the FAA chose the Integrated Airspace Alternative among the
four that have been studied for the New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia
Metropolitan Area Airspace Project the past nine years. This alternative
"best meets the purpose and need of the project, which is to improve the
efficiency and reliability of the airspace structure and air traffic control
system from southern Connecticut to eastern Delaware," the FAA announced
Friday at a congressional briefing in Washington. The FAA supported its
decision for the five-state area saying it would result in a reduction in delays
for arrivals/departures, a reduction in the complexity of the current air
traffic system operation in Philadelphia and New York, improved flexibility in
routing aircraft, among other factors. FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey said
the preferred alternative would save an estimated 12 million minutes of delay
annually for the four major area airports -- Kennedy, LaGuardia, Newark and
Philadelphia. Each minute of delay costs airports in excess of $60, an official
said. Reilly, who attended the FAA briefing for congressional staffers with
County Solicitor John McBlain, said the plan selected by the FAA was by far the
most harmful to county residents. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18121902&BRD=1675&PAG=461&dept_id=18171&rfi=6
http://www.thestamfordtimes.com/stamford_templates/stamford_story/288496942560222.php
New
York Airport Operator Assures Worried Community About Airport Plans: STONE RIDGE - The executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey, which is expected to buy out the lease for Stewart International Airport
this fall, said on Tuesday that he doesn't expect Stewart to become the New York
metropolitan region's fourth major airport, as some have predicted. Anthony
Shorris, the keynote speaker at the Hudson Valley Regional Economic Summit at
Ulster County Community College, envisions Stewart growing as a regional
airport. Its potential, he said, lies in serving some of the 11 million
customers of the metropolitan airports who live north of the city. Possibly a
third of those customers will begin flying out of Stewart, Shorris said. Last
year, some 310,646 people traveled through Stewart Airport, down from 399,178 in
2005 and well below the recent peak of 532,948 in 2000. Shorris said he thinks
Stewart may one day serve 4 million yearly, but he said that still doesn't
compare to the 42.6 million who travel through John F. Kennedy International
Airport annually. "Stewart will never be of the scale of those
airports," he said. Shorris said he realizes the importance of the
“think local first” mentality of business and public leaders in the Hudson
Valley, and won’t forget that come takeover time. http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/SWF_PA_local-21Mar07.html
Editor's Note: If you believe that I have a Port Authority bridge I'd like
to sell you. Once this corrupt agency gets their claws into Stewart Airport it
will herald a new era of environmental degradation for the Hudson Valley.
Pennsylvannia:
NEW Air Cargo Airport Proposal Being "Rushed!!!" Gladstone
Partners, LP, a Pennsylvania limited partnership has announced plans to open a
cargo airport near Humbolt Industrial Park in Hazleton, PA. The FAA is currently
reviewing the airspace request, agency spokesman Jim Peters said Wednesday.
Applicants must identify all schools, churches and obstructions that fall within
large trapezoid-shaped sections at the end of each runway. The agency will
review potential obstacles such as buildings and power lines. "The size of
the trapezoid varies and increases with the size of the aircraft using the
runway," he told Hazelton's Times Leader. Gladstone's application proposes
a 13,000-foot-long asphalt runway that's 200 feet wide, Peters said. "That
would make it one of the longest runways in the country," he added. The FAA
will also evaluate how potential new flight patterns will mesh with the current
air traffic system and whether aircraft can take off and land safely from both
ends of the runway.Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak said Wednesday
that he "loves the airport concept" but "owes it to the public to
gather more information before creating an authority." During a public
hearing earlier this month, concerns were raised about the rush to create an
airport authority. Editor's Note: The rush is because like in the Port
Authority takeover of Stewart Airport, they are rushing before the public has a
chance to get to know what the impacts will be. http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?ContentBlockID=3b89ca7f-124c-4e9a-b549-5c05964176dc
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Important Aviation News Stories This Week
The Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday a new plan in handling
air traffic out of New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia airports that may mean
elevated noise levels in some communities.
The goal of the plan, which is called the Integrated Airspace Alternative, is to
update flight patterns - unchanged since the 1960s - to better handle the
increasing flights in the Northeast, the agency said in a statement.
The plan would make arrivals and departures more efficient by combining low- and
high-altitude airspace, the statement said. It also would cut delays by about 12
million minutes per year for Kennedy, LaGuardia, Newark International and
Philadelphia International airports, the statement said.
U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez and Frank R. Lautenberg, both New Jersey Democrats,
said the plan would bring unacceptable, elevated noise levels to 300,000 people
in the state.
"Your proposal will have massive negative quality-of-life implications for
hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans and reduce property values for many in
our state," the senators wrote in a letter to FAA Administrator Marion
Blakey. They called on the plan to be re-evaluated "with aircraft noise
reduction as a major design element."
FAA program manager Steve Kelley said the agency is working on plans to ease
noise, such as routing planes over less densely populated areas and having jets
descend in a way that uses less engine power.
A meeting to discuss noise mitigation associated with the agency's plan is
scheduled to be held April 23 at LaGuardia Airport Marriott Hotel. The FAA said
it expects to publish the Environmental Impact Statement and make a decision
this summer on how to proceed with the project.