Listen to this articleA Long Island aviation executive is calling out East Hampton Town officials for “potentially placing lives at risk” for failing to inform pilots of operational changes at East Hampton Airport.
Andrew Schmertz, CEO of Hopscotch Air, an air taxi service based at Republic Airport in Farmingdale, claims the town board is deliberately refusing to issue Notice to Air Missions (NOTAMs) to pilots, leaving them to depend on colleagues or a “problematic” automated weather reporting system to inform them of potentially hazardous airport conditions.
The town’s failure to issue notices to pilots is the latest chapter in a long-running dispute between aviation groups and businesses that operate at the airport and the town over restrictions at the facility. The squabble has been in and out of court since 2016, resulting in a string of decisions that has kept the town from curtailing airport operations.
The town board continues to represent to the Federal Aviation Administration that the airport is a private facility, as a way of limiting operations, according to aviation groups.
“NOTAMs are essential tools pilots use to help mitigate risk and hazards they may face at airports,” Schmertz said in a written statement. “Despite repeated losses in court, the East Hampton Town Board is still pursuing a strategy that seeks to limit operations at the airport by describing it in FAA records as a ‘private airport.’”
Schmertz added that members of the town board are willing to sacrifice safety to further their goals.
“The aviation community has worked hard to address the board’s concerns, often at the detriment of the small businesses that rely on the airport,” he said. But the board has repeatedly thrown its support behind the small vocal minority of airport opponents, who wish to restrict or close the airport.”
However, East Hampton Town Attorney Robert Connelly said in an emailed statement that while a public-use airport is permitted to provide updates about the airport to the FAA via the NOTAM system, it also can disseminate this information through other means, including emails sent by the airport’s fixed base operator, the Automated Weather Observing System and through the Air Traffic Control system run by the FAA.
“… the airport maintains the ability to advise airport users of updates and other information through these various means of communications,” Connelly said. “The airport is safe for users and ensuring its continued safety is a top priority for the town board.”
The town attorney also pointed out that legal fees associated with the litigation are paid from the town’s Airport Fund, which is funded by revenues raised by airport user fees, rather than other taxpayer dollars, to defend its position regarding the airport.
“Despite the ongoing litigation, as users of the airport well know, the East Hampton Town Airport remains open to the public and fully operational,” Connelly said. “The town board remains committed to addressing the long-standing noise and environmental issues impacting town residents and surrounding communities. Nevertheless, the town board has been and remains amenable to discussing resolution of the ongoing issues with the aviation community, provided it serves the best interest of the residents of the Town of East Hampton.”
Schmertz pointed out examples from FAA reports of dangers stemming from not posting NOTAMs, including an airport in Washington State that failed to post a NOTAM regarding runway surveillance cameras, from which a descending aircraft sustained wing damage. In another instance, the non-issuing of NOTAMs regarding an outage to runway lights was deemed a contributing factor in an accident at a private airport in Illinois.
“By refusing to update its FAA records, the town is voluntarily handicapping- and assuming liability for itself – and creating similar risks when maintenance or other operational issues occur,” Schmertz said in the statement. The potential for disaster is real.”