To the Editor:
Re "What Is All the Fuss About Flying? We Took to the Air to Find Out" — The story (opinion piece?) makes almost no connection at all between the fun of flying and the downside of Santa Monica Airport (SMO) except at the very end, where Snowden says he "won’t celebrate" if the airport is closed because it lets us "appreciate aviation."
This is particularly ironic because Scott Snowden’s piece makes it sound as if he’s never flown in a small private plane before in his life. Most of the stuff he marvels at has nothing at all to do with the various hazards/dangers SMO presents to the community, from air pollution to the long history of SMO-based aircraft crashing in residential neighborhoods. That also makes the headline rather ironic: "What is all the fuss about flying? We took to the air to find out." Really?
He even likens the more expensive airplanes lined up at SMO to boats in Marina del Rey that cost the same. No mention of the danger of a yacht crashing into a school, playground, library, or a house. In sum, despite the interesting descriptions of taking off, landing, etc., the story seems written simply to say SMO should stay open because flying is fun.
Zina Josephs, Santa Monica
