[Elvis]

I mean is it really safe to have an airport so close to an airport like that? 70 million passengers a year, all those planes. Is it really safe to put an airport there? Sure Hollywood Park was able to operate near LAX safely for 75 years but c'mon...

http://www.dailynews.com/opinion/201508 ... commentary

When it comes to a Los Angeles stadium, NFL owners must put safety first: Guest commentary

By Tom Ridge and Mark Rosenker
POSTED: 08/14/15, 11:00 AM PDT | 10 COMMENTS

NFL owners gathered in Chicago this week to discuss a potential relocation of a team to Los Angeles. Much of that discussion likely focused on the economic impact of such a move.

We would like to think just as much attention will be paid to public safety when Commissioner Goodell and the league’s owners consider the location of the new stadium that will host the selected team. We have serious concerns that one location now under consideration would unnecessarily risk the safety not only of those who would attend football games, but also of Americans who fly in and out of Los Angeles each day.

Take Chicago for example, site of the owners meeting. Each week, 175 flights leave Chicago O’Hare International Airport bound directly for Los Angeles International Airport. As those planes approach LAX, they will fly directly over the city of Inglewood and a site favored by the owner of the St. Louis Rams. The site — known as Hollywood Park — is on the direct flight path to LAX just 2.5 miles away and descending planes will pass over the sight at a height of only 600 to 700 feet. Any pilot will tell you that it is during take off and landings when aircraft are most vulnerable not only to engine complications, but also the new and dangerous threat of drone incursions and cockpit laser attacks. Keep in mind LAX is the world’s busiest origination and destination airport and planes fly over Inglewood every 90 seconds.

We first became aware of this issue when AEG, a company that had been considering an alternate L.A. stadium site, asked us to look at the general security and safety implications of locating an NFL stadium at the Hollywood Park site. AEG has since publicly announced they are no longer pursuing a stadium in L.A., but we continue to feel strongly about this issue.

Various government agencies will review aspects of the Hollywood Park site. But there is no single agency — federal, state or local — to review the operational, safety and security issues in a comprehensive manner. An approach lacking imagination and coordination as observed by the 9/11 Commission report, is clearly unacceptable in a post-9/11 world.

The federal government should coordinate a public discussion to include the Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Homeland Security, FBI and the full range of stakeholders — including airlines, pilots and air traffic controllers — to discuss the safety and security issues surrounding this site before construction begins.

The threats are real:

Just this summer, major American airports have seen multiple laser attacks on airliners approaching LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark Liberty. The FBI has established a task force to deal with this growing danger. And FAA statistics clearly show that LAX is among the top airports in the nation for reported laser incidents.

Pilots are reporting more close encounters with unmanned drones as they prepare for landing at major airports. LAX is no exception. In the last two weeks, pilots approaching JFK in New York and Sky Harbor in Phoenix have had to contend with drone near-misses. Drones can be every bit as destructive as a bird strike. A drone or laser strike at low altitudes gives pilots little time to react and avoid disaster.

Some argue that such events can happen anywhere. That’s true. But LAX is not just anywhere. It’s one of the busiest airports in the world located in an iconic American city. It has been a target before. Meanwhile, an NFL game is not just another game.

Inglewood’s political leadership and well-funded developers have launched an aggressive public relations effort to castigate anyone who raises security and safety questions about their location. Are they to unilaterally determine what is safe for the flying public? Will it take a catastrophic incident — be it accident, terrorism or other criminal act — for officials to ask the question: Was it really prudent to locate an 80,000-seat venue in the direct flight path of one of the busiest and most significant airports in the world?

NFL owners must not only be stewards of the league’s financial interests. They have a role in ensuring the safety of those who interact with and travel near their stadiums. Therefore, a public conversation about risk should be held before a final decision is made.

Los Angeles deserves an NFL franchise. But layering an NFL stadium in such close proximity to LAX will make managing risk harder for pilots, other aviation professionals, and security personnel — people whose jobs we all should be striving to make easier. Giving them a voice in the process through public hearings is the least they deserve from government and NFL officials.

Tom Ridge was America’s first secretary of Homeland Security and the 43rd governor of Pennsylvania. He is chairman of Ridge Global, a risk-management consultancy.

Mark Rosenker is a former chairman of the National Transportation Safety board. He is president of Transportation Safety Group.

[OldSchool]

Tom Ridge just won't let it go, he's gonna keep on thumping this garbage for his employer till the end isn't he.

[BuiltRamTough]

Lol @AEG and lmfao @TomRidge

[Hacksaw]

Yeah that's it Ridge. Ask the Forum organization how bad it is or those horses formely next door.
Nice try Phil. What's in it for you?
Dust in the wind...........

[TSFH Fan]

Maybe Phil is trying to remind Stan that he's got more billions and more LA championships than Stan? Even the super rich compare pocket wads, right?

PA: "Let me reach down here and grab this. Hey, Stan look at this! So, how big is yours?"
SK: . . .

Maybe Ridge should focus on the possibility of a terrorist hijacking one of those Goodyear blimps across the street from the fake Carson stadium -- I've heard of the book/movie Black Sunday.

[ramfaninsd]

per faa regulations no planes can fly over a stadium in use. tom ridge is an idiot.

https://www.faasafety.gov/spans/noticeV ... x?nid=2595

[ramfaninsd]

that was a notice this is the actual regulation.

stadiums
FDC 9/5151, issued under 14 CFR 99.7 on "Special Security Instructions," restricts flight over stadiums during major league baseball, National Football League, NCAA, and motor speedway events. The so-called “stadium TFR” prohibits stadium.jpgall aircraft and parachute operations at or below 3,000 AGL within a 3 nm radius of any stadium with a seating capacity of 30,000 or more people when there is a major league baseball game, NFL game, NCAA division one football game, or major motor speedway event occurring. This TFR applies to the entire US domestic national airspace system, and takes effect from one hour before the scheduled event time until one hour after the event concludes.

[bubbaramfan]

This report it total BS. The flight path of aircraft landing at runway 1south is still more than a1/2 mile north of the proposed stadium site. No aircraft will be flying directly over the stadium.