HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 04202004 - SD3 SD.3
TGIF BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Date: April 20, 2004
ACCEPTED the oral report on the plane crash on Interstate
630 that occurred on April 13, 2004; DIRECTED the Public
Works Department to return to the Board of Supervisors with
an update of the investigation and to include in the report
a risk comparison of Buchanan Field Airport to other Bay
Area general aviation airports.
Friends of Concord Airport Association
1
f A Coalition of Business, Pilots and Concerned Citizens
P.O. Box 30942 Walnut Creek,Ca 94598
Phone 510.758.2325 Fax 510.758.6335
E-mail diannesummers@mindspring.com
Website www.BuchananAirport.com
Al" rjRort Safet
At
General Aviation Airports
And
Buchanan Field, Concord
Prepared April 10, 2004
Copyright 2004, Dianne L.Cole All Rights Reserved
::.:....... Friends of Concord Airport Association
• page 2
According to National Safety Council data and a report prepared
by Stanford Research Institute (SRI):
• More people are lulled each year, in bicycle accidents than
General Aviation. Should we close all bicycle paths?
• More people are billed each year, in boating accidents than
General Aviation. Should we close all boat marina's?
• Almost 50 times more people are killed each year in
automobile accidents than General Aviation. Should we
close all roads?
• Approximately 99% of Aviation injuries and fatalities occur
to persons on board the aircraft or on airport property.
• Catastrophic General Aviation accidents are almost
non-existent.
• Sun Valley Mall crash on December 23, 1985, was the 4th
worst General Aviation accident in the hist of General
Aviation.
• Airports, the size of Buchanan, and having approximately
the same number of flight operations (160,000) will have
within a 5 mile radius, 250,000 more chances of injury from
auto accident, than Aviation; and 5,000 more chances of
death from auto accident, household accident or murder,
than Aviation.
• Flying is the safest mode of transportation.
General Avia ion z�areTj,
9and Facts
r
i hrvughout the United States,the viability and continued` of ge neral aviation(GA)airports are under pressure for
a variety of reasons. Repeatedly,a major source of the adverse pressure is a concern with the safety of the airport--a
concern particularly articulated by persons living in their vicinity.Stories of local general aviation incidents or accidents,or
press accounts of incidents and accidents elsewhere in the United States,only increase safety related concerns of airport
neighbor:_ The fact that general aviation has become safer in recent years(as reported in the April,1997 issue of
Whigns.;wistinmr)is lost on area residents who worry"whit might happen if..."The fact that many airport neighbors
are at greater risk from home and auto accidents than from a general aviation accident is rarely demonstrated.
In rtnponse to these concerns,many airports have undertaken safety analyses in an attempt to inform the typically
emotion-laden debate with objective evidence and fact. Unfortunately,the information available to most localities has
been limited to two major sources. Safety studies have had to rely on local accident data from the airport in question(and
from other area or in-state airports),or national data.Yet,in the first case,the number of incidents or accidents may be too
few in rtunitter from which to draw meaningful conclusions;in the second case,the statistics are sir highly aggregated,that
they offs r little insight into the local situation.
The following description provides several new insights QbW Vlh GA ddw*arcalmostnmtx-trdgent PUP-
into GA, fetlt b.as t3.;uy???ixA re-m Pf national data and a lic concern with general aviation is often expressed els"what
ta1#axt a rt:rtf lw' txa e>t +reit a( t p if the aircraft hits a house(or school,or shopping center)."
k•`irzf '#'± 'tJotsi t: l :'1 :3ittiartriiatme+ri was The impression is created by news images of 8747 accidents.
gal rat3r T1s f+sEe4 0 :3 atm f d #ta �> The implication is that a general aviation accident could be
ftEQt .al°�"1J�iNrta ». simllamrlyasdieastcr .tlutagasn,t?reacadentstatistics painta
e piitit?i tt ts; e#r r&l #tern-; very different picture(as would an evaluation of kinetic en-
t a of ergy effects). l3uc"tng the 25 yrs reviewed,there owxTeed
only 1QGAacct lentarmatkwrwi&iowhlch:rn than two per.
pevrer Cataliti siccurnitflc+nwvi +tfrarit A vt#*'thar+�
sons an the.Stowd were ftrtaslty br4ured(see aocornpanyft
Win boating and biryrltrig. According to the N tional tabte)� And:the three most serious accidents were of a type
Safety Council,in 1994(the last year for which full data is that would notbeMated tooperations such aswould befound
available!)_there were 1,014 fatalities from all aviation-re-,, at a typical GA airport. The most serious accident involved a
fated nct—lents,of thews, 7€6 uv re from general aviation- civil-roistered fighter-type jet,while the next two were mid-
r &tat s rcie E�<:17rt:alit;tttc' tr lair:tlicrcm tw?c-r 74F1 aircollisionsinvol-,ingaGAaircraftandcommercialtransport.
€a mfr irff a h fpm t3V#1 n general aviation accidents occur:they result in few off-
ick related airport ground fatalitim
fatalities.i tli is strife.G iia tteo latlx+ t#t tither
pof+it to r. rcecti res l atti--t,es. Auto,hom e.An+d f0m.accidenta l?!t .a"ter threat to
arRprart ntigt bars than GA aeridtrn6.'Ytu:artalysis of the
Mast persons affected by GA California airport's suburban neighborhood indicated that
l �GA aiccidents recorded by the NTSS between theyears persons in a five-mile vicinity of an airport with 160.00D
1964 and 19138 were reviewed to obtain a broad sample of annual operations are 2W.OW flaws more likely to have on
accident ratterns, (Records for most years after lfr9{3 are injuryfriaranauto accident than from a GA a ident,and
not complete.) Approximately 103,1X)0 records contained about Saki dares mote likely to be fatally injured from an
sufficient information for subsequent analysis.The firstob- auto accident,household accident or murder(using no-
servation is that two-thirds of GA accidents do not result in tional averugvs)than from a GA acciderst.
any injury or fatality,but rather were reported as the air-
craft it:wcif received submantiat damage, Collisions of taxi- General aviation in the United States is under considerable
• ing aircraft.hard landings resulting in landing gear collapse, pressure fora nu mberof reasons including changing public
and gmund loops frequently result in a reportable GA acci attitudes and economicss which have effected the pool.
dents,but not ones resulting in an injury. of future pilots, land use changes which pressure the
None-the-less,the 103,000 accidents did lead to 70,400 Continued on page 7
injuries and fatalities durinf the 25 years surveyed.Of this
total,hi't -Ater,only 740 injuries and fataltties,occurxirl to
pew who o were not aircraft occupartm and who were not .+i►
.7
ort airport property. Approximately"%of h*tdm or fatale-
tiesa ing from a GA accidentis to a perste errs shp prop- lu.._40000
exty orP n-t+oard the aircraft- Conversely,persons not partici..;
pa;tiog it*fwnzral miarion are rarely affected.
i 3
r +
f
r r•-� - etc ttxs:z:,e sr-anrar~er
General Aviation Safety-Fears and Facts confd
continued use of airports,and increasing assts. This de.
scription is not Intended to instill complacence with GA
safety efforts,but it is intended to h~t that safety fail-
ures resulting in accidents do not occur to the extent(ut
mapitudc and frrequency) ved by the general public.An improving safety recctr�tme area where the industry
i has demonstrated slipaificant progress. More details of this
E trend and characteristics of GA accidents should be avail-
able to airport operators throughout the states. The tnf*r
motion here-In is one contributksn.+ 54x"4-'.1
Gerahl W&v"Nein is I No
alta*flour f-withbntt hisett its S irF'mrrcisen.He r5 nR
} gfAtmnavii4 zc+ith emlfrrrjress.
General Aviationaccidents:Ground Fablity Surnsnaty
by number of fatalities,IMAM
deft to Right. James DeSastat,MDOT Dincter;I David VandrrVeen,
r Number of Mic'ltigan Association of Airport£xecuthies.Refs.Andrew Riehtser,
Ground fatalities Number of Type of Grose Pofnte. Photo by rine Burke.
pe r Accidepnt Accident; Aircraft Involved LEGISLATIVE AVIATION CAUCUS MEETS
On May 28, 1197 the Bureau of Aeronautics said Rep.Michael Nye.
22 (7) ' 1 CL Mark 5 a chairman of the aviation caucus,hosted a tweeting of the caucus MM-
15 I DC-9 and PA28% berg. The Caucus consists of legislators who work to support and
2 B727 and C_172 i foster aviation in Michigan. Additionally,an invitation to suend the
Hu 2590 s meating sad joist the can="a sent to all e3 astats and representatives.
•i (17) 1 hie 55A155` Aeronautics director William Gehman and other staff uxinbcM along
(5) 5 Various with representatives of various segments of aviation in Michigan,con-
iF. F
3 (5) 1$ Various (erred with legislators about pending legislation and issues affecting
(17} 169 Various aviation in the state. Among this issues discussed was itttplemeentation
27717 (51) 198 of user fens to fund the national airspace systeeat,access to high-deity
airports,ways of inctmsing revenue to the Michigan aeronautics fund,
I
Number.,in parenthL%K are the total numtvr of additional and general aviation preservation.
groundserious mJuries.
Canadair>-riant of„ ,jet fighter-Sacramento CA,9/25/77 II�►O_
lided with Piper PA-28,Cerritos,CA,8/31/86 r14�l5lt�
2i collided with Ce.^sssna 177.Sart Diep,CA,9/25/78Z69C helicopter.wodent,t7erry PA,9/4/78u►t leas, vruwrd.CAS 12/23
'sum(Number of accidtmts I number of fatalities per acciamt) will BpCuic I9flbrbt7l�O�i t$��'t�tl teCa
Sources: aulluv from Nr +8 data the public a A6