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Community Corner

Airport Awaits Report on June 25 Plane Crash

Airport Manager John Ricci says he cannot explain why accidents are happening more frequently at Sikorsky Memorial Airport. After the June 25 crash, Stratford Mayor John Harkins said if Bridgeport can't run its airport safely then it should be shut down.

Sikorsky Memorial Airport Manager John Ricci cannot explain it, but accidents seem to be happening more frequently at his airport.

"Frequently" may not mean the same to everyone, however, but two airplane accidents in two years are too many for Ricci.

The latest accident occurred June 25 when a single engine Piper PA-32 Cherokee airplane clipped the fence at the end of the runway while landing.

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The collision tore off one of the plane’s landing wheels, causing it to crash and spill fuel that ignited.

Airport emergency personnel quickly doused the fire with fire-retardant foam and extricated the injured pilot and passenger, reported to be Paul Sward, 59, of Westport, and his wife, Roxanne, 58. They were treated at Bridgeport Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

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Ricci said he is waiting for a preliminary accident report to be issued by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) sometime in July. But he said he believes the cause of this accident is the same as in three other accidents since 1994.

"More likely than not, it was pilot error," said Ricci.

Ricci said the other accidents involved: airplanes landing from the other direction, which approaches the runway from over the Great Meadow Marshes; overshooting the end of the runway; and hitting the safety fence at the Main Street end.

In the latest accident, however, the aircraft was approaching from over the Housatonic River and Main Street. Ricci said apparently the pilot came in too low and hit the fence.

He said another plane did the same thing about 10 years ago, but in that incident the plane’s landing gear merely bumped the top of the fence. That plane landed safely and the incident was not classified as an accident.

Ricci said he doesn't know why accidents at the airport are occurring closer together, but it wasn’t because of an increase in air traffic operations at the airport. Flight activity has remained about the same at the airport since 1994, he said.

The last accident at Sikorsky Memorial Airport that was investigated by the NTSB was in June 2009 when another plane hit the blast fence.

The most serious accident was in April 1994, when eight people died in a fire after a plane hit the safety fence.

Airport critics have made the blast fence an issue over the years while they opposed a proposed extension of the runway to meet Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety regulations.

The proposal would require relocating a portion of Main Street through a salt marsh adjacent to Short Beach.

The airport is owned by Bridgeport but located in Stratford, and officials from the two communities have not seen eye-to-eye over the airport expansion plan. Stratford officials complain that Bridgeport has failed to give the town a share of airport revenues, so they have blocked the runway expansion in retaliation.

"It's time that the city of Bridgeport asks itself whether it should remain in the airport business. If Bridgeport can't operate the airport safely, the city should shut it down," Stratford Mayor John Harkins said in a statement. "Making Main Street in Stratford less safe for vehicular traffic is not a workable solution. Airport safety can be improved within current confines."

Harkins said he plans to meet with Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch sometime in July to talk about safety issues at the airport. But Harkins said he doubts the accident will make much difference in negotiations between the two municipalities.

"It’s almost like a car crash," he said, and shared Ricci’s assessment that "pilot error" was the cause.

Ricci said weather conditions were not a factor in the latest accident. He said the control tower recorded the accident at 9:28 p.m., and although it was after dark the weather was clear.

The airplane is owned by Rob Russo of Bridgeport, a former state senator. The Connecticut Post reported that Paul Sward, a licensed pilot, leased the plane from the Three Wing Flying Service headquartered at the airport.

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