‘Normal’ Weekend at Airport
The situation at the East Hampton Airport last weekend, the first weekend of the 2017 high season following a court’s decision to strike down last summer’s overnight curfew on aircraft, was unremarkable, according to Jim Brundige, the airport manager.
In both traffic and complaints about aircraft noise, “it seemed to be a pretty normal weekend,” Mr. Brundige said on Tuesday. “It didn’t seem any busier than any other holiday weekend.”
There were two days of inclement weather over the weekend, he noted. While air traffic controllers are on hand to guide planes into and away from the airport, and pilots are asked to follow specific approach and departure routes to minimize noise, “all bets are off” in rain and fog, he said. In that case, pilots have the authority to choose the safest routes based on visibility. Complaints did come in from areas and individuals that often report noise and low-flying planes, Mr. Brundige said.
There was also “a little mishap” over the weekend, when a small plane cut a corner too tight and one of its wheels went off the pavement onto the grass. The plane had to be towed, Mr. Brundige said, but the incident did not shut down the airport.
East Hampton Town has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review its attempt to establish local regulations limiting airport use. Two overnight curfews enacted in 2015, including one with extended hours for “noisy” aircraft, were in effect until an appeals court ruled against them last fall in a challenge brought by aviation interests. A third law, which would have limited noisy aircraft to one takeoff and landing per week, was blocked from the outset and invalidated in last fall’s decision.
The town recently hired an international law firm, Morrison Foerster, to ask the Federal Aviation Administration’s permission to regulate the airport’s use. The firm recently convinced a court to allow the city of Santa Monica, Calif., to shut down its airport in 2028.
East Hampton Town Board members have said that while closing the airport is not a goal, it could be the ultimate result if the conflict between airport users and residents beset by noise from planes cannot be resolved.