Letter to the Editor: Resident Writes In About Airplanes Over Bayside

Bayside Douglaston Patch reader Susan Bolger wrote this letter to Patch on the abundance low-flying planes over northeast Queens. Below is the letter in its entirety.

Dear Editor,

It was suggested that I contact you about an incident that occurred in the skies over northeast Queens on Wednesday, May 22. 

Around 10:15 a.m., I heard frighteningly loud "explosions" in the sky. Having lived in Bayside my whole life, I'm no stranger to the deafening roar of planes, but these sounds were unlike any I've heard. 

Shortly after the booms stopped, my neighbor called to check whether I'd heard what was being described as "airplane backfire" on police scanners. After contacting the Federal Aviation Administration and speaking with an FSDO inspector, I learned that a Delta/GoJet flight bound for Portland, Maine had experienced engine failure (a blown number one engine) shortly after takeoff, dropped fuel, returned to LaGuardia Airport and, thankfully, landed without incident. 

The FAA was unable to confirm where the pilot dumped his fuel but, anecdotally, a woman living near Bayside High School described that the air was permeated with the odor of fuel.
 
Thanks to recent FAA changes, planes are now flying over densely-populated northeast Queens every 30 seconds. These changes are supposedly intended to better manage airspace/traffic and fuel costs, but at what price? Judging from their actions thus far, the FAA is willing to thumb its nose at northeast Queens when it comes to things like environmental impact, property value and quality of life, but how about our safety?     

How fortunate we were to avert tragedy last Wednesday. How about next time?  
 
It's seems dangerously foolish to believe that the FAA/airport pressure to push planes away from the gate and into the air ASAP, coupled with airlines' aging fleets and financial woes, will have no impact whatsoever on maintenance and, ultimately, safety.  

On Wednesday, by God's grace, a plane didn't fall out of the sky into Bayside, Flushing or College Point.      
 
Do people in the Metro NYC area even know about the 1960 disaster when two planes fell from the skies in Brooklyn and Staten Island?     

With planes flying overhead, separated by mere seconds now, the FAA has gravely increased the odds that a tragedy like the one in Park Slope will soon recur in the skies and streets of northeast Queens and the Bronx. Blessedly, last Wednesday was not the day.
 
We are in danger. Pray that we'll remain as fortunate as we were last week and that the FAA comes to its senses before tragedy strikes. 

Sincerely,
Susan Bolger
Bayside