General Category > Hackensack Discussion
Teterboro Airport
Editor:
[As printed in the 2/3/05 edition of The Record]
In reference to the jet crash at Teterboro Airport, maybe now those pinheads who want to bring in larger aircraft will reconsider.
Although as of this writing there were no reported fatalities, it was still a horrible situation.
I am a resident of Prospect Avenue in Hackensack, and when I stand out on my terrace, I usually "wave" to the aircraft as they make their final approach to Teterboro. It's amazing that none of these aircraft has crashed into one of the many high-rises on Prospect Avenue, or worse yet, Hackensack University Medical Center, also in the flight path.
Rep. Steve Rothman, D-Fair Lawn, will have to continue his fight to ban larger jets at Teterboro and maybe even work to discontinue some of the aircraft currently using Teterboro before a situation worse than Wednesday's happens.
A word to the wise is sufficient.
Sharon Solomon
Hackensack, Feb. 2
Editor:
Somebody emailed me this article today. I'm not sure which news outlet wrote it.
DiGAETANO, RANDALL CALL FOR IMMEDIATE CLOSURE OF TETERBORO AIRPORT
BAN ON NON-ESSENTIAL TRAFFIC SOUGHT
Convenience For The Rich Is Costing Lives
[/b]
February 2, 2005
(Bergen County, NJ) New Jersey Assemblyman Paul DiGaetano (R-Bergen/Passaic)and Bergen County Freeholder Elizabeth “Lisa” Randall are calling on all local elected officials and Gov. Dick Codey to demand that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey close Teterboro Airport to non essential traffic, following the devastating crash earlier today
Randall said Teterboro has been “an accident waiting to happen” for too long and that it’s time a “remove this menace from our community before more people are hurt and killed.”
The two Republicans are calling for an immediate ban on non-essential, non-government flights to Teterboro. The ban will give federal officials time to study the latest crash and to ensure that all safety measures are being followed to prevent future tragedies.
Randall said she would like to see the airport closed, but said federal aviation officials have been opposed to that idea for many years and admits permanently closing the airport would be difficult.
“Teterboro Airport is little more than a convenience for the wealthy corporate elite and celebrities who can’t be bothered going to Newark Airport. But people shouldn’t have to die so the rich and famous aren’t inconvenienced,” said Randall.
DiGaetano noted that today’s plane crashed in to a building just a few yards away from the county vocational high school. “Today's crash could have been a tragedy, many children could have been lost had this accident occurred just a few hours and a few feet from when and where it did” said DiGaetano. "We must ensure that the airport and those who use it are following safety procedures before Teterboro is reopened to anything other than essential traffic."
“The men and women from our emergency management services who responded should be commended for their dedicated work,” added the assemblyman.
“But the fact is that brave public servants cannot prevent tragedies. Only the governor and policy makers at the Port Authority can demand that a through review is completed before the airport is reopened,” added DiGaetano.
Randall said that Teterboro has become a political public relations opportunity for too long with too little being done to protect Bergen residents from the noise and pollutions caused by the airport.
“I am amazed to see many public officials today are busy slapping themselves on the back for their small role in stopping bigger jets from landing at Teterboro. But that’s not the issue we are facing today. It was not a 737 jet that crashed today; it was a smaller jet. So the real question is why is this airport allowed to operate at all in the most densely populated county in the state?”
Editor:
The following comments were forwarded to me for posting:
It's time our representatives be held accountable for our lives. Continuing
to trumpet the defeat of the Boeing Business Jet is like crowing about
banning assault weapons. Both are good things to stop. But when someone holds me
up it's going to be a handgun they kill me with, not an Uzi. The BBJ (Boeing Business Jet) maybe would have been 1% of all operations at Teterboro Airport. The jet that's going kill us will be one of the 99% still flying, likely bigger than the one that crashed last week.
It is time to get Senator/Governor Corzine's, Representative Rothman's, and
Senator Lautenberg's eyes on the prize. It is past time to move the corporate
jets at TEB to Morristown or Essex County (who don't want the jets, either).
The rich and famous will have to drive in their limos thirty minutes longer to
get to the airport. Better them riding longer now than hundreds riding in
the lines of limos that will be needed for the funerals when a Gulfstream
crashes into Hackensack's Medical Center, high-rise apartment buildings and
Hasbrouck Heights' homes.
The Instrument Landing System has been in violation of FAA environmental
regulations since it was opened. It should be closed now, which will stop many
corporate flights. If TEB were illegally dumping toxic waste into the
Hackensack River that put lives at risk I don't think the feds or the state would allow
dumping to continue. Why is the illegal ILS allowed to put our lives at risk
hundreds of times a day?
I am also weary of the letters to the editor saying "You moved near Teterboro
knowing it was an airport." When my parents moved here in 1956, TEB was a
GENERAL AVIATION Airport, not an International airport and brother to LaGuardia,
Newark and JFK. There were no corporate jets in 1956. The "You moved near
Teterboro knowing it was an airport" argument is like saying "You moved near
the Ridgefield Power Plant knowing it generated electricity" after the coal/oil
generator was replaced by a nuclear reactor in violation of environmental
regulations and disregarding the safety of the millions living so close to the
plant. I'll agree to Teterboro staying open if it again becomes the Teterboro
Airport my parents knew.
We all need to call our Congressperson and Senators offices and get the names
of their transportation aides, their e-mails and phone numbers. We need
specific contacts we can pin down (e.g., Robert Helland, an aide to now Senator
Corzine's office, who uncovered the actually number of yearly operations during
Corzine's campaign). It's time Congressperson and Senators get daily e-mails
(along with every media contact we have) naming them as "non-doers." What's
more "The Record" better get a clear idea that we're not kidding and their "TEB
can be fixed" attitude is not being "a friend to the people it serves."
We must light a fire under these people and keep it burning if we don't want
to die by fire.
Dick Bruno
Hackensack
Editor:
"It's a rich man's airport, for rich guys and movie stars,"
See full article: Criticism of Teterboro intensifies after jet crash
Editor:
Hackensack Fire Department Responds to Plane Crash (From official website)
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