Pacoima Activists Call for Closure of Whiteman Airport, as County Signs Off on Study of Its Shutdown
Pacoima activists, citing harmful emissions and threat of accidents resulting from activity at Whiteman Airport, gathered Wednesday near where a pilot made an emergency landing and narrowly escaped a collision with a Metrolink train earlier this month, to call on officials to close the facility for recreational use.
On Jan. 9, the pilot of a Cessna 172 made an emergency landing on the tracks next to San Fernando Road. He was pulled to safety by police officers only seconds before a train barreled into his downed plane.
“We see these accidents too often, and we can’t be coming out here every time there is an accident,” said Veronica Padilla-Campos, executive director of Pacoima Beautiful, an organizing leading an effort to close the airport.
“What are we waiting for?” she said. “Are we waiting for an explosion? Are we waiting for a specific number of people to die? Don’t be confused. People are dying because of the airport everyday, of the lead-based fuel the planes use.”
The group earlier also called attention to a fatal plane crash in November 2020 that led to the death of the pilot and burned cars and the fronts yards in a residential neighborhood.
Crystal Reyes, who lives in Pacoima, said some have dismissed the concerns of residents who live near the airport, and others who frequent the busy streets in the surrounding area.
“I think that for them to act as if this is not a big deal, that this not a risk to our community — it’s just not okay,” she said.
Padilla-Campos said that their call to shut down Whiteman Airport does not include areas used for emergency operations, and is aimed instead at the area being used for recreational purposes “that is not serving any needs, and is killing this community.”
David Kolstad, treasurer for both the Whiteman Airport Association and the Experimental Aircraft Association, said Wednesday that the calls and studies into closing the airport are premature.
“It’s normal to exaggerate the dramatic,” he added, and then explained that the pilot in the recent crash did what he would have done had he been in his situation by finding a place to land when facing a power failure.
“It was a train crash, not a plane crash because the train came along a few minutes later,” he said. “So you know, the guy was hurt a little bit, but not badly. He did exactly the right thing … I think they’re making a big deal out of a relatively small number of accidents.”
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The rally came a day after the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors directed the Department of Public Works to begin identifying what data and documents would be required to begin the process of requesting that the Federal Aviation Administration close Pacoima’s Whiteman Airport.
The county has not yet decided whether to initiate such a request, but the motion approved on Tuesday, Jan. 25, and introduced by Supervisors Sheila Kuehl, who represents the area, lays the groundwork for such an action should such a recommendation move forward.
The county’s Community Advisory Committee that is studying an re-envisioning of the Whiteman Airport is scheduled to meet Thursday, Jan. 27, at 6 p.m.
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