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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02 23 1990 Vero Flight Schools Offer Airport Safety SuggestionsVero F1'ight.- Schotol*s Offer Airport ggestion''s. By PATRICIA DIILAi I A "I woii d say the flight schools in Vero Beach copy and look them over and proceed in dis- Sebastian Bureau C6iet have beet► taking the heat and don't deserve it," cussions about what can be done," Gillespie Officials from two Vero Beach flight schools, said B�t :CorcOran, chief flight instructor for said. whose students use the Sebastian Municipal Pro-Fhof Vero. "I don't consider Sebastian Although the two men could not provide esti- Airport, have suggestions to reduce friction airport,-i6tsafe. I don't consider it a hazard. It is mates on how often their students use the air - with the local community and are waiting for one of,tl safest non-tower:controlled airports port, Gillespie said-. it would be a high the city to set a.date to discuss them.. in Flory; .withthe. volume of traffic, they percentage. He disputed, however, the figure of The proposed meeting between the city and have." 91 percent outlined in a. preliminary financial the Right schools would be the first to take __ operating analysis Apogee Research Inca pre= place during all the years of controversy sur- Pr .. pared for the city in 1989. rounding the airport'. tt{Ii�lould say the flight school That figure might have been skewed, Gilles "There doesn't appear to be much dialogue in ViIp Beach have been taking pie said. going on, said _ Tom ,Gillespie, manager of ;. "Steve Johnson called me and told me they Flight Wety International. "I .don't want to the'h at and don't deserve it." were taking a survey and he said it would be in point finge'rs at myself or them. Maybe there is Bill Corcoran our best interest to have as many people go up an opportunity for improvement." as possible, and we did without thinkingit He attended one of the public hearings on the t Pro -Elite of Vero through," Gillespie said. airport some time ago; Gillespie said, "and it Johnson is a fixed -base operator at the air seemed like an. awful emotional meeting. We A ntkxb€ber of items would have to be explored port and co-owner of Sebastian Aero Services. sort of backed out in participation because ofin dons with the city, Corcoran said, He could not be reached Thursday for com- the political aspects of it." such elbow , much busier the airport is now meat People living near the airport have directed than iithe past and where the problems are much of their .criticism at the two flights • ^�.� � Corcoran said Pro-Flate' was considering corm Worn, whether from student operation making two recommendations to'the city con schools, which have a combined student pop- or otheOperations: cerning.the airport. uiation of 450. The criticism has focused on , „Thbje` are thin s we need to pin down," he noise and safety issues and has intensified in g If the city would add a visual slope indicator, said. °� . that would give the pilots visual approach the wake of two accidents in recent weeks that. left one pilot dead and another seriously Coran and Gillespie said they know noth- guidance and a glide path to the runways, Cor- injured. ing aiNAA a resolution the City Council passed coran said. "It would help alleviate the noise," Those two accidents led the City Council in 1*i, setting up voluntary airport noise And he repeated a suggestion the company's during a special meeting Wednesday night to abatennt rules. Those rules 'are included in a assistant chief pilot made at Wednesday's consider closing runway 13/31. Because of Fed- �, broche the city has published about the air- meeting: Hire someone to operate a radio at the eral Aviation Administration objections, the Port airport to advise pilots using the airport council did not approve the resolution. But the "I _ surprised there was something like Gillespie of Flight Safety declined to say meeting resulted in a Flight Safety representa- that `plished and we don't have a copy. I don't what his recommendations to the city would tive's suggestion that the two sides meet. know4hy. The only thing we can do is get a be.