Letters

The past two weekends in October have sounded like “normal” noisy summer weekends, with earsplitting aircraft traveling to and from KHTO, East Hampton Airport.

But, amid a pandemic, it is not normal — not when many flights originate in states where out-of-control coronavirus is surging, and when both East Hampton Airport’s air traffic control tower and terminal are closed. Both weekends, nonstop jets, seaplanes, lead-fueled small planes and twin-engine helicopters arrived and departed East Hampton Airport.

This frenzied but routine activity is courtesy of the Federal Aviation Administration, which ensures East Hampton Airport never closes and never says no to any aircraft wishing to land, not even to oversize jets landing on a main runway far too short to later permit safe takeoff, even under optimal conditions, according to manufacturers’ specifications. Some pilots flying the biggest jets and several responsible charter operators refuse to book flights in or out of East Hampton Airport, even when the tower is operating. They deem KHTO unsafe for their large jets aircraft, because the runway is too short and the weather is often capricious. And, since early September, KHTO has been operating without an operational air traffic control tower!

There were 9,000 flights at KHTO during July and August alone, and another 1,700 during the first weeks of October. Most flights were disproportionately directed above the same homes in hamlets under red-lined flight paths.

Restrictions at KHTO will not stop erosion of our quality of life, prevent accidents or, as was demonstrated briefly when curfews were in place, lessen air traffic. Operators then simply crammed commuter flights into limited time slots, aggressively competed for landing spots and alarmed residents in the vicinity of KHTO.

The FAA controls East Hampton Airport until 2021, but the FAA mission is safety in the air, not safety on the ground. Families living in the Town of Southampton, beneath chaotic, narrow air corridors leading in and out of KHTO, have no federal agency looking after our safety. Beneath the dangerous flights, in those red-lined areas a State Senate staffer termed “The Kill Zone,” residents are hyper-aware of the risks posed by reckless aviation operations.

There is but one way to achieve lasting peace for all: Transform East Hampton’s toxic, carbon-producing facility toward safer, environmentally sustainable uses that will preserve the safety, quality of life and environment of all area residents, and finally benefit the owners of the land, the townspeople of East Hampton.

Patricia Currie

Say NO to KHTO

Noyac