800 Tucsonans Warn Obama of Safety Concerns
March 30, 2009
The President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama:
We urgently request your help with an unsafe situation here in Tucson, Arizona, a metropolitan area of over a million people. Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (DM) is located within our City limits and pilots routinely fly at low altitudes over the most densely populated residential areas including churches, community centers, several schools, and the University of Arizona with a daytime occupancy of approximately 50,000 people.
DM has two Air National Guard Programs which are of concern:
1.) The “Operation Snowbird” Program brings in Harriers, Tornados, F-15s, F-18s, and F-16s. Several “Snowbird” aircraft have notoriously poor safety records. Harriers have had two major crashes in Arizona in the last two years, including one in a residential neighborhood of Yuma. Last December, an F-18 crashed in a residential neighborhood in San Diego. The F-15 fleet was grounded twice last year after one disintegrated in mid-air due to structural failure as a result of age.
2.) The Interceptor “Operation Noble Eagle” Program consists of F-16s that take off directly over the central city carrying live ordnance. They take off to northwest of the Base at full after-burner 8 to10 times per month on drills/alerts. Live ordnance drills at full throttle over heavily populated areas are inherently unsafe even in reliable aircraft. Senior AF leaders have expressed public concern about their aging fleet, specifically engine problems and airframe metal fatigue in the F-16s.
The Air Force has long recognized the over-flight problem at Davis-Monthan. After a 1978 crash of a single-engine A-7 near the University of Arizona which killed two on the ground, the Air Force advised in a letter to the community that DM would soon convert to two-engine aircraft, the A-10. It would also explore limiting the use of DM by National Guard aircraft. The aircraft brought in by these two Programs, especially since 2002, are not consistent with the intent of the letter.
The flights over the City are not compatible with the DoD’s current operations policy for DM known as the Air Installation Compatible Use Zone Report (AICUZ). The AICUZ states that traffic patterns will be designed to minimize overflights of populated areas and that departures and arrivals will use the less encroached airspace southeast of the base to the maximum extent possible.
In addition to the safety concerns mentioned above, it was learned in October of 2008 that DM had been flying A-10s with “cracked” wings over the urban areas of Tucson. We are told that since this was discovered, the A-10s were grounded, inspected, and new wings were ordered.
There is a Military Community Relations Committee (MCRC) in Tucson convened by DM. Neighborhood representatives have suggested alternatives to mitigate safety, principally by ceasing flights over the most densely populated areas of Tucson. The Harriers could be shifted to Yuma – a rural area with an existing Harrier base at the edge of the Barry Goldwater Range. The “Snowbird” Program itself could be transferred to an upgraded AF Auxiliary Field near Gila Bend which is closer to the Goldwater Range than DM. The Interceptors could take off to the Southeast from DM where there is a 50,000 foot zone with minimum development or they could possibly be shifted to Luke AFB. After a year and a half of operation, the MCRC is hopelessly deadlocked due to
conflicting safety and business concerns.
In July of 2008, some 60 neighbors signed a petition letter to the Secretary of the Air Force concerning the safety of the Interceptor Program. The letter was ignored. In November of 2008, a second petition letter signed by almost 500 residents was sent to the Secretary of Defense concerning the safety of the Snowbird Program. Thanks to the efforts of Senator Kyl and his staff, a response from the Air National Guard Bureau was recently received. The letter, however, avoids addressing the main points of our petition.
Mr. President, another accident is inevitable if we continue along the current path ignoring the safety of the residents. We ask your help in remedying the situation by asking that an impartial assessment of the dangers of low flying aircraft over Tucson from these two Programs be conducted by the Department of Defense and other possible alternatives be explored. Thank you for your help in this critical matter.
Sincerely yours,
Signatures Attached
Cc: The Honorable Robert M. Gates, Secretary of Defense
The Honorable Michael B. Donley, Secretary of the Air Force
The Honorable Jon Kyl, U. S. Senator from Arizona
The Honorable John McCain, U. S. Senator from Arizona
The Honorable Raul Grijalva, U.S Representative, Arizona 7th Congressional District
The Honorable Gabrielle Giffords, U.S Representative, Arizona 8th Congressional District
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