by Jim Hughes
The November EAA 1541 Member meeting included a special presentation by Chris Brooks, an Aviation Safety Officer with the Office of Airports, the Aeronautics Division of the California Department of Transportation (better known as CalTrans).
Have you ever wondered who issues permits for California airports and heliports?
Did you know that every public use California airport and heliport is inspected every year for compliance with California and FAA regulations?
There are six Aviation Safety Officers that do this work across six areas of the state.
They and the aircraft they fly are all based at the Sacramento Executive airport, so flying south to areas V and VI makes for a long day for them.
Chris Brooks contacted me about doing a presentation. He found me from an FAA Safety Seminar that I had posted on the FAA website for the Beale Aero Club. (I’m an FAASTeam Safety Representative.) I asked him if he would do his presentation for our EAA chapter, and after his supervisor had approved, we set it up for our November member meeting.
Chris and all of the other five Aviation Safety Officers are pilots with commercial and IFR ratings, both of which are required for the job. They fly to the airports within their area of responsibility in one of the office’s Beech Bonanzas.
Chris flew into KLHM at about 6 p.m., after flying to Redding and then Lampson, where he rented a car so he could perform an inspection of a hospital heliport.
Chris started the presentation with a Powerpoint slide show on the Aeronautics Division the Office of Airports. The office employs a total
of 26 people, and their budget is derived from the aviation fuel tax.
The list of California facilities that they inspect is extensive;
- 217 public use general aviation airports
- 27 commercial airports
- 68 special use airports
- 8 seaplane bases
- 163 hospital and 196 corporate, police, fire, and private heliports
Chris reviewed the purpose, the funding, and a lot of statistics on the organization. Interest and attention perked when Chris showed a number of accident photos that were caused by improper activities on a couple of airports.
But the most interesting part was the question and answer session, when chapter president Ron Wright asked about why the runway at Catalina was in such poor condition. Chris’s reply was that the local conservancy operates the airport and may be ignoring maintenance in order to get it closed.
Another question was asked about the Santa Monica airport and that city’s effort to close the airport. Chris indicated that he didn’t want to
comment. It’s well understood that the fight is between the city of Santa Monica and the FAA.
Also there was Chuck Jones, the FAASTeam Program Manager from the Sacramento Flight Standards District Office. He added to what Chris was saying about some of the local airport conditions and operations.
I’ll be inviting Chris to do his presentation again so that more of our members will understand what this important organization does to maintain the safety of our airports.