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FAA Metroplex and Santa Monica
Joseph Schmitz, PhD
City of Santa Monica Airport Commission Member
August 24, 2015
General Aviation Aircraft Late 50’s 2015
SMO with Runway Protection Zones
Reason’s Swiss Cheese Accident Prevention Model
Aircraft accident systemic defenses: Identify, reduce hazards, and increase safety barriers to accidents! SMO: No Runway Protection Zones, C & D Safety Waivers, Dense
urban location, More IFR jet flights, Night and weather operations, Minimal City staff SMO oversight, No real FAA safety demands on SMO IFR or VFR operations…
SMO Jet Operations Historical jet trends
FAA Metroplex Goals
Goals: Optimize and make efficient - the SoCal aircraft operations; cope with airspace & airport saturation Use SatNav (and data interlinks) to add climb/descent routes,
separate arrivals and departures to cope with increased air traffic De-conflict arrival and departure procedures – Mostly SMO & LAX
Save fuel and flight time for airliners Keep them high as long as practical – then slow, configure, & land More (multiple) direct routes to LAX final approaches Minimize delays caused by converging GA jet traffic
FAA Metroplex Stakeholders
Stakeholders: Local (FAA) facilities, industry, and “other” DOD, airlines, business and general aviation, airports, and others
such as FBO’s, aircraft SatNav manufacturers, etc. SMO: Invited to the November 19, 2014 – LA regional area FAA
planning meeting that was open to airport representatives but not to the public (Pico Union Library) Topics included: Redistribution of noise, air quality, and other impacts among
communities Anticipating citizen ire within impacted communities
Note: Congress excluded the EPA from analyzing any FAA Metroplex Plan impacts on specific communities
FAA Congressional Mission(s) Promote aviation safety
Generally well done for airliners with notable lapses due to FAA systemic controller mis-management (e.g. Lexington, KY)
General Aviation safety record is deficient, some say negligent due to industry co-optation (Mary Scheivo, DOT Inspector General)
Promote aviation commerce Now expunged from FAA mission statement Metroplex (and NextGen stakeholders):
FAA, DOD, Other Govt. Corporate: Airlines, NBAA members, airports, FBOs etc. No EPA, other representatives of impacted populaces
General Aviation Pressures on FAA for a National Bizjet Airport Network
2014 GA sales: $24.5 billion dollars $22 Billion for business jets
722 New jets delivered in 2014 55% Delivered to North America
Active US General Aviation - jets 11,637 Business jets
6,500 Bizjets (with aircrew); 720 without crew 1,330 Personal (often leased-back for shared use) Average cost: $9.5 million $1.2 million in operating costs/year
SMO: Present Commercial Operations FAA Safety Waivers for Class C & D jets
Approach airspeeds exceeding 157 MPH
Intensive IFR (instrument flight) operations: Piston, turboprop, & jet SMO IFR departures delay LAX airline departures SMO IFR approaches impact LAX IFR approaches
SMO now provides some instrument weather landing capabilities to aircraft on IFR flight plans Actual instrument weather use is unknown but instrument
practice approaches regularly occur and go unreported to Santa Monica (250 heading after flying over SMO)
SoCal IFR Arrivals This chart captures the FAA central problem – LAX
is the 800 pound gorilla that drives the airspace!
SMO and LAX Approach and Departure Conflicts
Problem SMO inbound traffic: Biggest
airport delay for LAX airliners
SMO IFR departures delay LAX departures 60% of SMO IFR departures
force two LAX airliners to wait 1-3 minutes; while one SMO departure waits 5 minutes
Solution(s) Rework (SatNav) multiple en-
route approach paths Segregate low altitude piston
aircraft More, flexible, predictable, and
segregated jet approaches
Turn SMO IFR traffic away from LAX over Santa Monica instead of straight-out over the beach
FAA (SMO) Metroplex New and Changed Procedures
FAA goals: Predictability, Flexibility (SatNav), Segregation STAR=Standard Terminal Arrival Route SID=Standard Instrument Departure (route)
New SMO Instrument Departure
The FAA de-conflicted SMO departure (expedites LAX airline operations)
New SMO Instrument Approaches
All-weather LPV Instrument Approaches LPV: High end SatNav approaches that permit decent (in the fog
or clouds) down to 200-250 feet above the ground
Real “weather” landings (or practice approaches) for Cat D aircraft with 300 feet ceilings and 1 mile visibility
SMO: Will have all weather 24/7/365 jetport capabilities
SMO with SoCal Metroplex The FAA Metroplex plan presumes that the FAA maintains
operational control of the Western Parcel (the non-aviation parcel) for the foreseeable future
The overarching FAA driver: “feed” airliners to & from LAX Or: Santa Monica can take its proprietor’s control of our
Western Parcel (non-aviation), reduce SMO to 3,000 feet and preclude all SMO and LAX jet/turboprop conflicts
Otherwise, SMO (now de-conflicted with LAX) approaches and departures, makes SMO bizjet ops more: Desirable, available, predictable, and now segregated from LAX
Santa Monica Voters’ Views Map Displays Precinct-level Data
City Council Recommendation Re-Assert our ownership of the Western Parcel now; the
FAA Metroplex plan regarding SMO would become moot Object to all SMO portions of the SoCal Metroplex – they
presume ongoing FAA control of the Western Parcel Supports Congressional Representatives Lieu and Bass - July 30,
2015 letter to the FAA Administrator Consistent with Mayor McKeown and City Councilwoman
Himmelrich statements to the FAA and to local residents Consistent with each sitting City Councilmember’s expressed
support of Measure LC before the 2014 election
Airport Commission Recommendations City Council Direct, in a letter to FAA that: 1. Santa Monica re-asserts its control of the (non-
aviation) Western Parcel, effective June 30, 2015 2. Objects to continued use of SMO other than as
an FAA-compliant 3,000 foot aircraft runway 1. With adequate Runway Protection Zones, and 2. Minimal lead particle or turbine particulate exhaust
3. The City Council direct Staff to explore the full extent and dimensions of City liability and risks inherent in present/future SMO operations.
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