The human imagination tends to the dark side at the slightest provocation and revels in irrational fears. Mr. Levenson’s comments regarding Harrison Ford’s forced landing are an example at hand.
In fact, over a 100-year span, only one single person has died as a result of aviation at Santa Monica Airport excluding those persons actually in an aircraft, and no one has been seriously injured either.
Aircraft operations at SMO have never been, and are not likely ever to become, a significant threat to life or property on the Westside. Mr. Ford’s forced landing demonstrates that fact perfectly.
On the other hand, in the last three years alone, 874 pedestrians and bicyclists have died or been injured in our town, according to the Santa Monica Police Department. Now there is a clear and present danger.
Fear cars, fear domestic accidents, fear lightning, if you will — they are all vastly more prevalent and likely to call your number than any random airplane. Mr. Ford’s mishap is not some great miracle, but is, in fact, the way most general aviation malfunctions play out, and we are glad he is still with us.
Bill Worden
Venice
Flight risks
What is it going to take? A good saying: “God drops pebbles on your head before the boulder.” If God intervenes or not is not my point. But getting rid of the dangerous flights over Santa Monica is!
It’s enough with the air and noise pollution, but waiting for the boulder to drop is not what I pay property taxes for. It’s time to be rid of the flights over the City once and for all.
Yvonne Lockhart
Santa Monica
Ben Wang is a fucking little pathetic anti-American terrorist that needs to be shipped back to his native country in a boat. Hey Ben, come after my airplane asshole!
Look Ben if you want to continue using some of the laughable “accidents” you listed go ahead. Keep banging your head on the wall, the FAA will never allow SMO to close. I’d bet my grandkids will be able to take flight lessons there in 30 or so years.
So by Ben’s logic, if I get in a car crash in Vegas, it should count as if it happened in Santa Monica because I started the trip here. Most of the other accidents amount to on the ground accidents involving only the operators and passengers in the plane. Way to stretch the facts. Aviation is remarkably safe compared to driving.
Look if the city wants to throw away money trying to close it, more power to you. The FAA will never let it close, but lawyers, lobbyists, and consultants will at least get rich off the city’s losing efforts.
. . and here is a YouTube Documentary of the SMO plane crash killing 4 in the aircraft, 1 in his apartment, plus 7 serious injuries on the ground — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrBFtXYVr6o
http://bit.ly/SMOaccidents Bill Worden, your facts are wrong. Please see the link for details of some SMO accidents. There are crashes, dead, or injured people just about every year. Here is an example of 4 dead in the aircraft, plus 1 dead and 7 serious injuries to people who were in the “safety” of their own home…
6/6/2003 – Beech A36TC – N1856P – LAX03FA182 – Owner/operator: J. Siegel (Santa Monica) –Fatal (5) — The aircraft took off from SMO, headed for Las Vegas. During the en route climb-out, the airplane entered the base of an overcast cloud layer, and then descended out of the clouds in a spinning, steep nose down attitude that continued to impact with a 3-story apartment building at 601 N. Spalding Drive, near Fairfax High School. It collided with the roof and came to rest in a subterranean parking area. A post-impact fire destroyed the plane. Probable cause was the pilot’s in-flight loss of control due to spatial orientation and failure to maintain airspeed, which resulted in a stall/spin. Also causal was the pilot’s disregard of the weather information provided and his attempt to continue VFR flight into IMC (instrument 10 meteorological conditions, which require a pilot to follow IFR or Instrument Flight Rules). The pilot did not hold an instrument rating. The pilot and passengers had been at the airport for at least 8 hours, waiting for weather conditions to clear. The pilot, 3 passengers, and a resident of the apartment building died. There were also 7 serious injuries on the ground.
Source: National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)