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Crash renews worry about airpark

Officials say closing Clearwater Airpark could be costly and dangerous, but some residents think it's too close for comfort.

By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Published February 17, 2005

CLEARWATER - Myvedet Hoxha remembers the day 15 years ago when a plane crashed into the house behind hers. Hoxha, 62, lives a quarter-mile from the Clearwater Airpark, a small airfield in the middle of the city.

The planes fly so close "sometimes you can see the damn pilot," said Hoxha, who moved from New York in 1989.

In the past 18 months, three planes leaving or landing there have crashed into the airpark's suburban surroundings, killing five people. On Tuesday, Ralph Herrlin, 78, of Clearwater and James Edward Smith, 63, of Palm Harbor died when their single-engine Beechcraft Debonair struck a ranch house and crashed a minute after taking off from the airpark around 5 p.m.

Both were familiar faces at the airpark, part of a tight-knit aviation community there.

Built in 1939 on what was then the outskirts of Clearwater, the airpark is surrounded by neighborhoods, office buildings and a golf course.

Why didn't the airpark disappear with the palmetto bushes?

* * *

Many who live near the airpark have complained for years about the aircraft buzzing just above their homes.

"Nobody is safe as long as the airpark is there," Hoxha said. "Would you like a plane falling in the house directly behind you?"

But aviation officials and city leaders say closing the runway might be reactionary, costly and potentially dangerous.

"At some point down the road we may need to have a conversation about the airpark," said Mayor Frank Hibbard. "How could I say it doesn't concern me? The safety of our citizens always concerns me. What the solution is, that is not quite as easy."

The airpark is 71 feet above sea level, the highest elevation of any airport in Pinellas County, and is a base of operations for Progress Energy and the U.S. Coast Guard during a hurricane.

By comparison, St. Petersburg's Albert Whitted Airport is seven feet above sea level, and the runways at St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport are 11 feet above sea level. Both would flood during a significant storm, said Gary Vickers, Pinellas County Emergency Management director.

"If Hurricane Charley would have hit us, I can tell you we would have been using that airport," said Vickers, who said elected leaders might use the airpark to take off on flights to survey damage. "It's not long enough to support large military cargo planes. But it can support smaller cargo planes and helicopters, which can bring in all kinds of supplies."

The airpark averages 50,000 takeoffs and landings each year, relieving the stress from larger commercial airports, state and federal aviation officials say.

A municipal airport in Odessa recently closed, so more planes will have to find airstrips elsewhere. Bill Morris, Clearwater's airport director, said nearly 200 pilots are on a waiting list to base their planes in Clearwater.

The Florida Department of Transportation has contributed about $1.75-million toward capital improvements in recent years, including 200 feet of added runway and new airplane hangars.

In exchange for the funding, the city must pay back a significant portion of the grants if it decides to close the airport in the next 20 years, said John Roeller, aviation programs administrator with the local branch of DOT.

"Our interest is in aviation in the state of Florida and the economy that revolves around that business," Roeller said.

Other municipal airports have been shuttered after residents complained they were too close to neighborhoods. A small airport in Murrieta, Calif., was closed in 2002 after nearby residents argued that the airport was no longer safe because new developments encroached.

Hibbard said it's premature to consider retiring Clearwater's single runway. In the latest crash, the plane fell more than a mile from the airpark, Hibbard said.

City officials faced similar questions after a crash in January 2004. Then, they urged patience during the investigation. The message has not changed.

"Before we jump to a conclusion that the airpark has lived past its usefulness, we've got to answer a number of things," said City Manager Bill Horne. "You have to look at each accident on its own merits. You can't generalize and say that's a reason to close an airport."

* * *

Authorities Wednesday said Herrlin and Smith died when Herrlin's 40-year-old plane stalled and nose-dived between two houses on Grovewood Road in an east Clearwater neighborhood. No one on the ground was injured.

Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday that they have not determined what caused the plane to stall in mid-air. However, friends of the two men said Herrlin had told them last week he was having problems with the plane's fuel pump - the engine wasn't getting enough gas.

Smith, a retired Delta Air Lines mechanic, had maintained the plane for Herrlin, a regular flier.

"They were so careful," said Ed Slattery, 77, a retired US Airways pilot who knew both men.

--Times staff researcher Kitty Bennett and staff writers Robert Farley, Jacob Fries, Jean Heller, Kinfay Moroti and Shannon Tan contributed to this report.

[Last modified February 17, 2005, 05:47:58]