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| Military aircraft fly-by creates stir in Midcoast By Greg Thomas [ greg@hmbreview.com ] Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, December 24, 2008 1:16 PM PST Moss Beach residents were startled from their evening routines on Dec. 17 when a sizeable aircraft flew a series of low passes above their homes. “It was like World War II!” resident Laslo Vespremi exclaimed, speaking of the thunderous overhead roar of jet engines and flashing landing lights that interrupted a family gathering in his living room. Vespremi is a 24-year homeowner in Moss Beach and former pilot with knowledge of aircraft. After the craft’s second pass, he stepped outside to scan the skies with some neighbors who’d been disturbed by the noise as well. At first glance he was able to identify the craft as a four-engine KC-130 Hercules — a military plane with a 132-foot wingspan, capable of refueling aircraft in flight. He picked up his phone to alert the county airport manager. Vespremi has called in noise complaints several times, but says this time his concerns are for public safety and airport misuse. “It was such a shocking event,” he said. “This has nothing to do with noise. It’s about how the airport is used and operated and who is enforcing these rules.” The rules, however, allow for military aircraft to perform unannounced training exercises at airports any time, according to San Mateo County Airport Manager Mark Larson. “U.S. government requires that all airports be open to military aircrafts,” he said. “There is no requirement that anyone contact the airport ahead of time to use the airport.” Without a control tower to manage air traffic, pilots rely on a “radio transmission recorder” and each other when navigating into and around Half Moon Bay Airport, Larson said. There is no warning system in place to alert residents of incoming or outgoing planes. In the days after the event, the airport received eight calls from residents in Moss Beach and Montara, inquiring about the plane’s purpose and origin. Larson and airport personnel spent Thursday and Friday tracking down the aircraft through the Federal Aviation Administration and radio transmission recordings. The plane came from the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego. It was performing a touch-and-go takeoff and landing training exercise from 7:30 to 8 p.m., according to Lt. Colonel Anthony Barnes, Marine Aerial Refueling and Transport Squadron commanding officer. Barnes said his men train in Half Moon Bay less than once a year, and flew similar patterns at Moffett Airfield, Travis Air Force Base and Monterey Peninsula Airport that night — he called it a “normal training story.” The aircraft “flew a normal 1,500-foot (above the ground) pattern,” he said, which is “standard procedure.” Vespremi, convinced the plane was much closer to his roof than that, wants assurance from Larson and the county that similar episodes will be avoided in the past. Larson said the “occurrences are very rare. It is something that the federal government does say they have to allow at their airports.” |