Medical Transport And Emergency Flights Could Be Affected

Reid-Hillview Airport (KRHV) in San Jose, California, has been under the threat of closure since before the county stopped accepting Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants from the FAA in 2018.

Although there has not yet been any formal action to close the airport, county supervisors are assessing different options should the airport close when the grant assurance obligations are over in 2031. In the meantime, owners and pilots with aircraft based there and other operators and users are speaking out in support of keeping the airport open.

First responders, flight training operators, and disaster response personnel point out the airport’s usefulness to the entire surrounding community. During the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, RHV was a crucial supply base the pilots who flew more than 125 tons of relief supplies to Watsonville Municipal Airport after roads and bridges were damaged in Santa Cruz. Many owner/pilots base their airplanes there for the commute to other airports for full-time jobs, medical charity missions, or other flights.

Several emergency response teams use the airport as an operational base, and the airport can enable helicopters to reach more than 80% of Santa Clara’s residents within 10 minutes during emergencies. County Airports Director Eric Peterson said airports are not stand-alone entities but as part of the National Airspace System as well as part of the communities they serve.

Paul Marshall, president of the California Disaster Airlift Response Team or CalDART, pointed out that, “Reid-Hillview gives us one of 22 nodes where we can fly people, and that could be emergency responders, it could be medical technicians, it could be firemen and police that need to help response, cadaver teams, they could be bringing food in, that’s an important asset that we wouldn’t want to lose.”

FMI:  airports.santaclaracounty.gov/home