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Saturday, June 21, 2008 Living near small airport
has its risks, benefits By Kyle Nagel The Dayton (OH) Daily News WEST CARROLLTON —
Lynn Gomez was discussing life near a small airport when a West Carrollton
Police Department cruiser pulled to the curb near her Catherine Avenue home.
Officer Ron Jensen, still friends with Gomez from her 27 years as a West
Carrollton police dispatcher, walked up the wooden steps. "You gonna move
yet?" Jensen asked, smiling. Many have put that same
question to Gomez since Tuesday, June 17, when a single-engine airplane taking
off from the nearby Moraine Airpark crashed and rolled into her back yard,
killing the pilot and injuring his passenger. It was the second time in three
years airplane wreckage has crossed Gomez' yard. "I don't get
rattled easily," Gomez said. "There's nothing you can do about it, so
why worry?" Some neighbors worry,
though, as do many around the country who live near airports like Moraine. Pat
Ray, a 48-year resident on Catherine Avenue just three houses down from Gomez,
was outside Tuesday when the Helton Lark 95 clipped the utility pole before
resting on Gomez' back steps. She was visibly shaken Tuesday afternoon but by
Wednesday was back outside battling weeds. "They take off and
go that way," Ray said, pointing to a path leading directly over her
house. "Sometimes they seem awfully low." Passers-by could still
see slivers of wood from the airplane frame and other reminders of the previous
day's incident. Two former residents, Helen Brooks and Deborah Clark, strolled
past Gomez' house, asked her about the incident and looked through the back
yard to see gashes in the asphalt and other accident remnants. Brooks, who lived in the
neighborhood from 1951-2001, said any danger involving the airport traffic can
be offset by the view of the large, undeveloped area around the airport. "Look at
this," Brooks said, gesturing toward trees, grass and the Great Miami
River. "Look how beautiful it is." |
