Cape Cod Airport Faces Petition To Limit Use | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-04.14.25

Airborne-NextGen-04.15.25

AirborneUnlimited-04.16.25

Airborne-AffordableFliers-04.17.25

SunnFun-DayFour-04.03.25

Sun, Mar 23, 2025

Cape Cod Airport Faces Petition To Limit Use

Chatham Resident Stubbornly Pushing Forward

Residents of Chatham Massachusetts who are critical of Chatham Municipal Airport (CQX) operations have garnered enough signatures on a petition to restrict its use to aircraft with wingspans shorter than 49 feet, so that question will appear on the town’s annual meeting warrant for residents to vote on May 10, 2025.

The action is being pushed forward despite being told by the town’s select board members that attorneys for the town council and the airport commission have ruled that airport operations are controlled by state and federal agencies, namely MASSDOT and the FAA, and that the results of the vote will essentially not mean anything.

This is in addition to the fact that virtually the same petition was voted down by residents in 2022 by a 2:1 margin.

Jerry Stahl of West Chatham is the sponsor of the petition and he maintains that the airport was designed only for smaller aircraft, not the larger turboprops that have been regular users of the airport for several years. He insists that Design Group II aircraft such as the Pilatus PC-12 using the airport creates a serious safety issue.

But that is simply not true: it is the operational capabilities of the airport itself that determine which aircraft can safely use it. CQX does have an RNAV(GPS)B approach with 600-foot minimums and has a runway 3,001 feet x 100 feet. The PC-12, a Design Group II aircraft with a 53-foot wingspan, its specified takeoff and landing distances at MTOW are 2,485 and 2,170 feet, respectively, and has no issues using the airport.

Regardless, Town Counsel Jason Talerman said that Massachusetts Attorney General “has been clear in determining that local regulation of commercial airport operation is preempted [by the state aeronautics agency and the FAA].”

Chatham Airport commission chair Huntley Harrison said the commission is sensitive to the safety issue, but added, “It is the FAA grant assurances, imposed as conditions for the acceptance of federal funds, that provide the basis for FAA regulation of the airport and thousands of other airports across the United States.”

Chatham Municipal “has accepted millions of dollars in FAA grants for the airport over the years subject to the grant assurances.”

FMI:  chathamrecycles.org/

Advertisement

More News

Airborne 04.18.25: Gulfstream G800 TC, Wingsuit Records, Bad Heli Mechanic

Also: Silver Airways Bankruptcy, China v Boeing, Intense HeliRescue, Boeing Potty $$$ Gulfstream Aerospace announced that its all-new Gulfstream G800 long range bizjet has received>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (04.19.25)

"We're excited to welcome Dave as Spirit's new President and CEO. He brings with him a wealth of experience and a solid track record of accomplishments from his many years in the a>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (04.19.25): Discrete Code

Discrete Code As used in the Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System (ATCRBS), any one of the 4096 selectable Mode 3/A aircraft transponder codes except those ending in zero zero; >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.19.25)

Aero Linx: The Museum of Flight The Museum of Flight is the largest independent, non-profit air and space museum in the world! With over 175 aircraft and spacecraft, tens of thousa>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (04.16.25)

"The FAA is taking this action in part because after the company’s director of operations voluntarily shut down flights, he was fired.... The review, known as a Certificate H>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC