Meigs closing target of FAA probe
City faces fine over shutdown
By Jon Hilkevitch
Tribune transportation reporter
Published February 13, 2004
The FAA is launching an investigation that may lead to fines
against Chicago for not notifying authorities before closing Meigs Field last
year, but the probe won't result in reopening the former lakefront airport,
officials said Thursday.
Civil penalties of $1,100 a day, ranging from 2 to 90 days,
could be imposed for the Daley administration's night raid March 30 that
bulldozed large "X's" into the Meigs' runway, said Federal Aviation
Administration spokesman Tony Molinaro.
He said the investigation "sends a message to the city and any
other airport sponsors that we do take a closing like this very seriously."
General aviation pilots have contended the shutdown violated
federal rules mandating at least a 30-day notice of an airport's closing.
The FAA's office of chief counsel, responding to a request for
the probe by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, said "reasonable
grounds exist to commence an informal investigation" by the agency's regional
office.
The pilots association filed a complaint in April seeking FAA
sanctions against the city. The FAA reviewed their request and notified the
group in a Feb. 4 letter that an investigation would occur.
Molinaro said the investigation would focus on whether the
timing of the Meigs closing violated federal rules. He said the FAA previously
determined the city had the legal authority to shut down the airport, which was
on part of a landfill called Northerly Island, that is owned by the Chicago Park
District.
The pilots association contended Chicago violated federal law
and aviation regulations by failing to provide adequate notice of the Meigs
shutdown.
The FAA said Chicago sent a belated notification of the Meigs
closing on March 31.
Federal aviation regulations require at least a 90-day notice,
in most cases, to the FAA administrator before public airport operators can
alter runways or close an airport. A warning of at least 30 days must be given
in the event of an emergency or a national security concern if the airport has a
charted instrument landing approach to help guide pilots to a safe landing,
which Meigs did.
Mayor Richard Daley, who broke a 2001 agreement with then-Gov.
George Ryan to keep Meigs open for up to 25 years in exchange for Ryan
supporting expansion of O'Hare International Airport, said he demolished Meigs
to protect the downtown from potential terrorist attacks launched by small
aircraft using the airfield.
Meigs supporters said they hoped the FAA action would help
draw attention to their proposal to reopen the airport in combination with a
public nature park that Daley and his wife, Maggie, have long envisioned for
Northerly Island.
"It's good there will be an investigation and the public will
hear about it," said Rachel Goodstein, president of Friends of Meigs Field. She
expressed regret, however, that the investigation would not include "a remedy
for reopening the airport."
City Hall has ruled out the possibility of reopening Meigs.
A Daley spokeswoman did not return phone calls seeking comment
Thursday.
After Meigs was closed, Congress raised the fine for an
unannounced airport shutdown to up to $10,000 a day if at least 30 days' notice
was not given.
Warren Morningstar, a spokesman for Aircraft Owners and Pilots
Association, said the FAA action "sends a message all over the country that if
you attempt to close an airport and do it without following the rules, there are
going to be consequences for disrupting the national airspace system."
Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune
FAA looks at Meigs Field closure
February 13, 2004
BY SHAMUS TOOMEY Transportation Reporter
The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday it is
investigating Mayor Daley's late-night raid on Meigs Field to see if federal
rules were gouged along with the lakefront runway.
Even if found to be in violation, however, the city would not
be forced to reopen the airport and could face fines as low as $2,200, FAA
officials said.
The probe comes in response to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots
Association filing a complaint that alleged the city was required to warn the
FAA 90 days in advance of any airport closure.
The city didn't tell the FAA of the closure until March 31,
2003, the day after it was carried out, the FAA said.
At the time, Daley said terrorism concerns and the need to
avoid a protracted legal battle spurred him to send heavy equipment to Meigs
under police escort at 11:30 p.m. The crews carved huge "X's" and other divots
into the 3,899-foot-long runway to prevent planes from landing.
In a letter sent to the aircraft owners group, the FAA's
enforcement division said it "determined that reasonable grounds exist to
commence an informal investigation" into the timing of the closure. It also
identified the investigator who will conduct the probe.
Under the federal rule in place last spring, a violation
carries civil penalties of up to $1,100 a day of violation. A tougher law
referred to as the "Meigs provision" was enacted last year. It upped the maximum
fine to $10,000 a day.
FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro said the penalty for the city, if
it is found to be in violation, could be for as little as two days of
violations. The duration of the probe is not known, he said.
"This would not lead at all to a reopening," he said. "It
still sends a message to the city and any other airport sponsor that shutting
down public use airports is something we take very, very seriously."
The city said last year that it avoided the waiting period
provision because the closure was an emergency measure to protect the public.
City Law Department spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle said the city sticks by its
reasoning.
"We've been very aggressive about defending the closure of the
airport, and we'll continue to do so," Hoyle said Thursday.
Rachel Goodstein, president of the Friends of Meigs Field,
said it welcomes the investigation.
"It did seem to us that there was wrongdoing involved," she
said.
The Chicago Park District is pushing forward with Daley's
dream of turning Meigs -- also known as Northerly Island -- into a park.
Plantings are planned for the spring, and the Park District has said it will get
community input soon on the park's design.
FAA grants AOPA demand for investigation into Meigs closure
Feb. 11 — AOPA's claim that the city of Chicago violated
federal law and aviation regulations when it shut down Meigs Field last March
has merit, says the FAA, and will be investigated. AOPA filed a formal complaint
following the destruction of Meigs's runway on Mayor Richard M. Daley's order,
claiming the city failed to provide adequate notice, as required by the FARs.
The complaint will not result in the airport's reopening but can lead to the
mayor and the city being punished for their actions.
"AOPA intends to push for the appropriate penalty to be
imposed on the city," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "Mayor Daley and any other
state or local official who may want to follow Daley's lead must be made to
understand they cannot unilaterally change the National Airspace System."
The manager of the FAA's Enforcement Division sent a letter of
response to AOPA's complaint against both the mayor and the city, saying
"reasonable grounds exist" to begin an informal investigation into the
allegations.
AOPA maintains that Daley and the city of Chicago violated
both the U.S. Code and Federal Aviation Regulations. The U.S. Code states that
an airport or landing area not involving the expenditure of federal money may be
altered substantially "only if the Administrator of the Federal Aviation
Administration is given reasonable prior notice, so that the Administrator may
provide advice on the effects" of the alteration. In order for the administrator
to carry out that obligation, Federal Aviation Regulations state that anyone
intending to alter a runway, deactivate a runway or airport, or change the
status of an airport must submit notice of that intent at least 90 days prior to
taking such action.
The FARs do provide for immediate emergency action, such as in
the case of national security, which was Daley's original claim. However, even
in the case of an emergency, if the airport has a charted instrument approach,
which Meigs Field did, a minimum of 30 days' notice must be given.
An informal investigation proceeds at the discretion of the
assigned investigator, in this case the manger of the Chicago Airports District
Office of the FAA's Great Lakes Region. At the end of the investigation, the FAA
will issue an Enforcement Investigative Report. If the report suggests that
there's evidence to proceed, then the FARs say "a notice of proposed order may
be issued or other enforcement action taken." That enforcement could be anything
up to and including fining the city for its action. There is no time limit for
an informal investigation, but any civil penalty action must be taken within two
years of the event — in this case by March 30, 2005.
To ensure that nothing like the Meigs debacle happens again,
AOPA lobbied hard on Capitol Hill for the Meigs Legacy provision, which is part
of the 2003 FAA Reauthorization bill. It provides for hefty fines against anyone
who closes an airport or runway without giving the FAA the required notice.
"The fact of the matter is that nothing the FAA eventually
does will bring Meigs Field back," said Boyer. "But the FAA's declaring that our
complaint has merit sends a message to the next mayor or county supervisor or
governor who gets the same idea to shut down an airport in the dark of night —
'don't try it!'"
04-1-087x
