TOWN OF LANCASTER
Residents cite Buffalo-Lancaster Airport safety issues
The Lancaster Town Board on Monday attempted to mediate a dispute between the operators of Buffalo- Lancaster Airport and town residents who contend that pilots using the small, private facility have skirted Federal Aviation Administration rules by flying dangerously close to their homes.
About 40 residents from the northeast end of the town attended Monday’s regular Town Board session. Also at the meeting in Town Hall were an equal number of pilots and others with an interest in the nearly 50-year-old airport.
One of the residents, David Hangauer, said neighbors are neither against the airport nor seeking its closure. However, he said, significant increases in air traffic at the expanding facility and the addition of a flight school whose student pilots are as young as 16 have raised concerns about the possibility that a plane from the airport could crash into a nearby home.
Hangauer and other residents recommended that the FAA put pilots using the airport under the jurisdiction of air traffic control at Buffalo Niagara International Airport to ensure safety. They also requested that the flight school be relocated from the airport and that the airport be barred from further expansion.
Tom Geles, president of the Buffalo- Lancaster Airport, insisted that flight activity is already under constant radar tracking by Buffalo Niagara International Airport and that having smaller, slower planes not mix with larger commercial airliners promotes air safety.
Town lawmakers, meanwhile, said the town has no jurisdiction over the airport. Geles said the airport is under the oversight of the FAA, the state Department of Transportation and the federal Transportation Security Administration.
However, Councilman John M. Abraham Jr. said he has contacted Rep. Chris Lee, R-Clarence, about a solution to the residents’ complaints.
Also, Town Supervisor Robert H. Giza recommended that pilots using the airport get the word out to other pilots that they should avoid flying too low over residents’ homes.
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