Ferris Wheel Plan Sparks Review

Pilots using busy Teterboro Airport (TEB) in New Jersey are used to sharing the crowded airspace with other pilots — but with Ferris-wheel riders? A major amusement park proposed for an area just south of TEB would include a 400-foot-tall Ferris wheel that would encroach more than 100 feet into the navigable airspace 11,000 feet south of the runway, according to Bill Leavens, AOPA’s eastern region rep. The giant ride would also penetrate the VFR Traffic Pattern Airspace climb/descent area by 66 feet for category C and D aircraft. Another proposal would also have pilots dodging an antenna farm not far from the amusement park, Leavens said. Fun, fun, fun. The 421-foot antennas would be put up 2.47 nm southeast of TEB. The towers would poke 214 feet higher than is currently permitted at that location. The public can comment on the perceived impact of the proposals by writing Robert P. Alexander, FAA Eastern Region, 1 Aviation Plaza-AEA-520, Jamaica, N.Y. 11434. In the Ferris-wheel case, cite Aeronautical Study 2004-AEA-785-OE and in the antenna case cite 2004-AEA-633-OE.