AOPA: San Diego Building A Threat To Air Traffic

Less than a mile from Montgomery Field, a busy GA airport just outside San Diego, developer Sunroad Centrum is moving forward with plans to finish up a 180-foot-tall building that the FAA has deemed a hazard to navigation. That’s a bad idea, AOPA said last week. “This is a critical safety issue not only to pilots using the airport, but also to workers in the new office complex,” said AOPA Vice President of Airports Bill Dunn. “AOPA is appalled that the developer is blatantly ignoring the FAA’s ruling and the city’s order to stop working on the building.” AOPA has joined the city of San Diego and the California Department of Transportation as a real party of interest in a suit against the developer. A local pilots group, the Community Airfields Association of San Diego, has also joined in the suit. The California Pilots Association said last week that it has been asked to join the suit and intends to do so. The only solution to this issue, AOPA said, is to do away with the top two floors of the building, cutting its height back to the FAA’s acceptable 160-foot limit. Montgomery Field is one of the nation’s busiest GA airports, with several active flying clubs and flight schools based there.