I expected to leave Palomar Airport in my rear view mirror as my wife and I visited the Caribbean recently. I could benefit from the break as could you from me. Unfortunately, four Palomar reminders popped up while I was gone.
Noise in Paradise
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My first Palomar reminder arose on St. Thomas Island, one of the beautiful U.S. Virgin Islands. As I read a book, planes thundered overhead, perhaps one flight every eight minutes. I immediately thought of Carlsbad’s future: a haven for tourists but a headache for residents.
In contrast, Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville bar and grill on Grand Turks island was ideal. Turquoise water, white sands, serenity. Not a plane seen or heard.
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Geriatric Gyrating
Picture yourself in a piano bar lounge with a microphone being passed among the patrons. You sing if you hold the mike when the piano player reaches certain lyrics. It’s the singing version of musical chairs or “hot potato.” Hard to believe that geriatrics (myself included) can move that fast to pass the mike onward.
Why a Palomar memory? As shown in earlier blogs, Carlsbad, the County, and the FAA have been playing “pass the Palomar mike for eight months.” None of them have the least desire to discuss the Palomar landfill problem or the County compliance with Carlsbad Conditional Use Permit [CUP] 172.
According to the FAA, it is the County’s responsibility to assess Palomar landfill safety issues.
According to the County, it is the FAA that certifies larger aircraft to use Palomar and hence it is the FAA’s duty to address safety issues. And, if it were the County’s responsibility, the duty falls on the County Landfill Enforcement Agency [LEA], not on County Airports.
And Carlsbad? Carlsbad has been oddly silent since commenting on the FAA California Pacific Airlines environmental assessment in August 2012 when Carlsbad noted the CUP 172 compliance issue related to operating Palomar Airport as a basic transport general aviation airport.
The Bali Plane Crash in Paradise
On April 13 on approach to the Bali airport a nearly new Boeing 737 crashed near the Bali runway with about 100 passengers aboard. Visibility was good. No mechanical problems were reported.
No deaths were reported but the plane broke into two pieces. The plane almost made the runway. Imagine a comparable crash on the Palomar landfill with a leaking methane gas system. Do all aboard survive the crash –as at Bali - but some are then incinerated by a methane gas induced fire?
The Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion
Last week a fertilizer plant near Waco, Texas exploded killing several, sending dozens more to the hospital, and requiring an evacuation of more than 2500 people. True, not an airport accident. But an example of federal safety competence.
Why a Palomar Airport memory? Recall my Blog #15 which responded to a citizen comment on an earlier Blog that he was prepared to leave safety issues to the “experts,” presumably the FAA and County. Blog #15 noted ten reasons why leaving a safety analysis to the FAA is dangerous.
The Texas explosion further shows why neither Carlsbad nor the County should assume the FAA, a federal agency, protects safety. Facts disclosed after the Texas explosion showed that federal agencies were asleep on the job.
The federal agency charged with safety – the Occupational Safety & Health Agency [OSHA] - had apparently not inspected the exploding plant since the 1980s. Worse, Homeland Security – created in part as a result of the Timothy McVeigh Oklahoma fertilizer bombing – reportedly had no record of the Texas plant’s existence.
Still confident the government is protecting you at Palomar?
