FAA Says 'New' East Hampton Airport Is Instrument Ready; Judge Recuses Himself

East Hampton Town announced on Tuesday that the Federal Aviation Administration has approved new “special procedures,” or instrument flight rules, for use at the “new” East Hampton Airport in May, allowing aircraft to approach the airport using only instruments.

The approval from the FAA means that if the town is able to execute its plan to officially close East Hampton Airport at midnight on May 17 and reopen it 33 hours later, at 9 a.m. on May 19, all of the same safety and flight support facilities currently in place at the airport will be available at the new airport.

The instrument flight rules, or IFR, had been of particular issue when an FAA official penned a letter to the Town Board in February saying that while it has the authority to close the airport and reopen it as a private facility, it could take the agency as long as two years to approve all of the aviation services, like the instrument guidance and air traffic control tower.

The letter sparked new protests from pilots and opponents of the plans to close the airport temporarily, who said that not having such services would cause a host of safety and logistical complications in the skies around the airport that could lead to increased noise impacts — and more flights diverting to other airfields.

But after meeting with FAA officials, the town agreed to postpone the closure of the airport from its original planned closure date of February 28, to May, with the expectation that most if not all of the airport’s services could be restored by then. The protocols for creating IFR special procedures were seen as the most complicated and were expected to take the longest to put in place, even though the airport would essentially be identical to what exists currently.

Pilots wishing to use the special procedures when the airport reopens on May 19 were told they had to have submitted applications to the town and the FAA by April 8.

The town’s plans to close the airport and reopen it as a private facility with new rules limiting the number of flights onto its runways still faces a legal battle, with four lawsuits asking a state court to stop the proposal, claiming that the town did not adequately analyze the potential fallout from its plans in other communities around the region.

The lawsuits, which were filed more than two months ago, were sent back to square one this week when they were handed to a new judge after the original judge reviewing the claims recused himself from the case for undisclosed reasons.

State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Santorelli submitted a form letter on Monday saying he was recusing himself from the case but offered no specific reason why.

The judge simply checked a box that said he would not be providing a reason for his recusal because doing so could “result in embarrassment, or is of a personal nature, affecting me or a person related to me within the sixth degree by consanguinity or affinity,” or for a reason that state law requires him to keep confidential.