Photo Credit: Michael Ein
Mechanic Dan Armand, of Vineland, moves a twin-prop airplane out from a hangar at the Hammonton Municipal Airport, which has more than doubled its revenue this year but also was the site of a fatal plane crash.
Hammonton Municipal Airport Administrator Rock Colasurdo
Posted: Tuesday, December 20, 2011 7:36 pm
Updated: 8:03 pm, Wed Dec 21, 2011.
By LEE PROCIDA, Atlantic City Press
HAMMONTON - This year could have been remembered as the year the Hammonton Municipal Airport took off, when the town more than doubled its revenue despite a poor economy and waning interest in aviation.
Instead, it will be marked in most minds by a mid-air collision four months ago that left one pilot dead and another critically injured. The Aug. 20 crash is still under investigation, and the aerobatic airspace where it happened remains closed.
On Monday, Airport Administrator Rock Colasurdo had to balance those two perspectives in his report to the Town Council.
He said revenue will exceed $62,000 this year, twice what it was last year, representing a profit of at least $56,000 to be used by the town.
That figure is expected to climb in 2012, since the state began stationing its SouthStar medevac helicopter there Dec. 1 and will start paying $3,500 in monthly rent beginning Jan. 1.
But Colasurdo, a former councilman and owner of Frog Rock Golf & Country Club, also said he would like to keep the airspace designated for stunt pilots indefinitely closed.
Town Council agreed, and the Federal Aviation Administration intends to keep it closed at least until it concludes its investigation sometime next year.
The "aerobatic box" at Hammonton is the only one of its kind in South Jersey, and pilots have practiced there for years before performing in airshows around the country.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board's initial investigation of the Aug. 20 crash, Kirill Barsukov, 33, of Jersey City, was practicing aerobatics in that space when his plane collided with a plane flown by David Mitchell, 71, of Voorhees.
Mitchell died in the accident, while Barsukov was able to parachute to safety and walk to find help before being taken to Cooper University Hospital.
The accident was the first fatal plane collision near the airport in 25 years. The last happened in December 1986, when two small planes collided on the runway as one was landing and another was taking off.
Final NTSB reports about the cause of fatal accidents are usually released nine to 12 months after they happen, meaning the full facts and probable cause of the August crash are not expected until late spring or summer.
In the meantime, Colasurdo said he hopes to have a restaurant opened at the airfield and for work to begin on re-paving the runway using grant funding.
Overhead costs at the airfield are currently very low. From January through Monday, all operating expenses this year totaled about $5,700, about half of which went to pay Colasurdo's stipend as the sole manager of the airport.
At the same time, monthly revenue ranged from $3,500 to $7,000, mostly coming from rentals of the airport's hangars, figures provided by the town to The Press of Atlantic City show.
Robert Pinto, chief flight instructor for Staraero Partners Group, said his company's decision to start operations at the airfield's northern hangar a year ago was primarily based on one thing: location.
In the northern part of the town, surrounded by blueberry fields and pine trees, the airport is centrally located in South Jersey, with easy access to Route 206, Route 30 and the Atlantic City Expressway.
"It's really unique," said Pinto, of Millville. "It has the potential to do a lot more, simply because of its location."
In fact, he said he has seen pilots traveling to New York City, Philadelphia or Atlantic City first fly to Hammonton and then rent to a car to get to their destinations, rather than go through the expense and hassle of flying to airports closer to those cities.
"It seems strange, but it's true," he said.
Not all the airport's users have praised the town's running of the airfield. There is an ongoing dispute between Colasurdo and the pilots who utilize a gate in the fence to access the runway from the hangars surrounding the adjacent Taildragger Inn.
For years, the owners paid the town a steady $100 a month. Colasurdo has demanded more, and said he would like to strike a deal for at least $360 a month.
In September, the town briefly blocked the pilots' entrance to the runway.by parking a tractor in front of the gate.
The fight has been bad for the business of Jenny Aviation, the maintenance and flight-instruction company that has used the gated entrance for seven years, owner Joseph Flood said.
"A person isn't going to fly their plane here to get it worked on if he's worried he won't be able to fly it home," Flood said. "They don't want to hear the negativity."
Flood said the town's overly focused on making money off the airfield and that its officials know little about aviation.
Colasurdo was appointed to his position in 2009, when the town started using $100,000 it had bonded to pay for improvements to the airfield. At that time, he said he was not an aviator but knew how to run the airport like a business.
Pinto said he felt the town has been cooperative with his business, and said the work it has put into the airport has so far paid off.
"Hammonton's a terrific community," he said. "They understand the commodity they have there."
Article, photos and comments:
NTSB Identification: ERA11FA468A
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, August 20, 2011 in Hammonton, NJ
Aircraft: MITCHELL DAVID N LANCAIR IV P, registration: N71DM
Injuries: 1 Fatal,1 Serious.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors.
On August 20, 2011, about 1315 eastern daylight time, an amateur-built Lancair IV P, N71DM, and a Yakolev Yak-55M, N521BC, were substantially damaged when they collided near Hammonton Airport (N81), Hammonton, New Jersey. The certificated private pilot of the Lancair was fatally injured, and the certificated private pilot of the Yak, who parachuted from his airplane, was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for either flight. The Lancair departed South Jersey Regional Airport (VAY), Mount Holly, New Jersey, for an unknown destination, and the Yak departed N81 on a local aerobatic flight. The personal flights were conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
According to friends of the Yak pilot, he was performing maneuvers in an aerobatic practice area, also known as the "aerobatic box," while being watched by an observer/coach. The airspace in which the Yak was maneuvering, to the east of runway 3/21, was uncontrolled.
A witness on the ground reported that she saw the Yak take off and commence aerobatic maneuvers. After about 20 minutes, she saw the Yak make a steep climb, then enter a steep dive. As it did so, she saw a white airplane, traveling "really fast come out of nowhere" in level flight and collide with the Yak. Neither airplane appeared to have altered its course before the collision.
Preliminary radar information indicated that the Yak was operating just east of the runway, at varying altitudes and with numerous data points missing. The track correlating to the Lancair was first observed northwest of N81. It then proceeded south, and about 8 miles west of N81, turned southeast before turning east. Near the end of the track, it turned slightly northeast. Altitudes inbound toward N81 averaged about 3,500 feet, but dipped to 3,300 feet approaching N81 before climbing back up again to 3,500 feet.
Radar returns in the vicinity of the accident site were at 3,400 feet followed by another at 3,600 feet; however, it could not be determined whether the contacts were the Lancair or the Yak. A final radar return occurred just to the northeast, at 3,600 feet.
Blonsick on Lake George.
