Don't ask, don't tell ? Maybe the FAA should have required the City of Chicago to upgrade the safety zones at Midway before handing out 337 million dollars to expand O'Hare last month? FAA asked city aviation officials in the spring of 2004 to submit recommendations for safety zone upgrades at Midway. Senator Lautenberg should be commended for amending this year’s transportation bill requiring upgraded safety zones for all US airports that are not up to current specification. The safety zone provisions were added to the transportation bill by the senator before this latest tragedy in Chicago.

Stephen Donato
www.phl-caw.org


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Pictured below crash site at Teterboro from Feb 2005 : The plane, with 11 on board, skidded across Route 46 during the morning rush hour striking two cars before slamming into a warehouse. In July 2003, FAA attempted to lift the 100,000 weight limit at Teterboro that would have allowed the 737 Boeing Business Jet to use the runways in this densely populated area.

Snipped email from Aviation Watch discussing history at Midway... When the plane crashed (at Midway) , as referenced in the attached article, back in 1976....I was the first person on the scene believe it or not. I was working on my ten speed bike (at least pretending to) and power went out in the garage. I jumped on my bike to see where the sound came from and witnessed carnage a 16 yr old does not readily see. 2 homes were leveled right down the block and exploded due to gas leaks after the plane hit them. There was nobody around but me. I was just there on my bike and was looking at something all by myself that was larger than life. 2 exploded homes..plane pieces everywhere. I will leave out the details, but the pilots tried to wave people away as they could not pull it up, said my neighbor... It shows that the FAA can approve things that really don't make sense. Jjust like 10 oz's of traffic will work without a hitch going into the 5oz glass at O'Hare, and thinking only east-west runways will solve all. There is no margin of error built into Midway that is really safe. It shows that maybe Peotone should get off the ground or develop Dupage which has twice the footprint of Midway.

cbs2chicago.com: O'Hare Expansion Gets $337 Million In Funding
Nov 21, 2005 6:36 pm US/Central
"The Bush administration commits $337 million to modernize and expand O’Hare," Mineta said. Still, with Bensenville facing the loss of 611 homes and businesses, the village president vowed to continue fighting. "They're trying to make it seem like it's a done deal -- nothing is further from the truth. Bad plan. Can't be funded,” said Bensenville President Jon Geils. "This is a wonderful thanksgiving holiday gift to the city of Chicago. Thank you Pesident Bush for your commitment to O’Hare International Airport,” Daley said..

New technology can prevent runway overruns
USA Today - Dec 9, 2005
Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., sponsored a measure that will require 284 U.S. airports to have at least 1,000 feet at the end of a runway by 2015. That number is based on an FAA inventory of major commercial airports that don't meet the standard. "It should not take another deadly overrun to convince aviation officials to do something about this problem," Lautenberg said in a statement on Dec. 2. Lautenberg's concern arose out of several runway overruns in his district: at Teterboro Airport.


After Chicago trip, leaders will campaign for changes - The Philadelphia Business Journal 11-28-05   ¶ 12/16/2005