Saturday, August 23, 2014

Pilots concerned over dangers posed by nearby stockpile, reservoir • Redlands Municipal Airport (KREI), California

REDLANDS>> Pilots at the Redlands Municipal Airport have been concerned over a state project at the end of one of the airport runways that could threaten the safety of pilots.

The California Department of Water Resources is in the second phase of its East Branch Extension Project, which included the construction of a 400-foot reservoir and the accumulation of a large dirt pile just past the end of the runway outside the city limits.

“I’d like to see all of the agencies work together to expedite an end to the situation as soon as possible,” said James Hoyt, pilot and member of the Redlands Airport Association.

Pilots were alerted to the situation near the end of 2012, when a large pile of dirt began forming from the creation of the Citrus Reservoir.

They were not informed that the project was in the works, said Ted Gablin, president of the Redlands Airport Association.

The project includes the construction of the 400-foot Citrus Reservoir, pump stations and pipelines which will serve growing populations toward Calimesa and Beaumont.

“You trust that the city and the state of California will do the right thing to make sure something like this doesn’t interfere,” Gablin said.

In early 2013, airport users complained to city officials, the Federal Aviation Administration and the California Department of Transportation. Caltrans ordered the project’s contractor to grade down the pile.

The airport users have been informed that the state Department of Water Resources will remove the pile by the end of the year, Gablin said.

The department sold the stockpile materials to the property owner who in July set up a screening plant to separate the rock from dirt.

The rock pile is growing and is within the Runway Protection Zone, according to the association.

A Runway Protection Zone is a trapezoidal area off the end of an airport runway to protect people and property should an airplane land or crash beyond the runway.

The land owner’s screening operation recently impinged on the landing zones set by the FAA, according to a statement emailed from the city’s Quality of Life Department.

The Aeronautics Division of CalTrans is very much aware of the impingement and met on site with the owner, according to the statement.

The state requested that the stockpile be reconfigured so as to be in compliance with the FAA landing zones. The land owner agreed to comply, according to the statement.

The Redlands Municipal Airport Master Plan created in 2008, includes a recommendation from the plan’s consultants that the city should consider purchasing the 7 to 9 acres east of the airport to have positive control over the runway and to curb obstacle issues in the zone.

Pilots are also concerned the nearby reservoir, which is less than half a mile from the airport, will attract waterfowl that could be hit by incoming or outgoing planes. The California Airport Planning Land Use Handbook, provides guidelines on certain land uses that have the potential to attract hazardous wildlife on or near public-use airports.

It is recommended to keep a 5,000-foot separation between hazardous wildlife attractants.

The FAA keeps a wildlife strike database, where pilots or airport personnel can report when a pilot hits a bird.

There have been about 142,000 wildlife strikes with civil, non-military, aircraft from 1990 to 2013, according to the FAA.

“The windshields are Plexiglas. They are very thin,” Gablin said. “It doesn’t take much to have a bird in your face.” 

- Source:  http://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com
 

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