Tustin : Marines Deny City’s Request to Halt Flights
Mayor Donald J. Saltarelli said Thursday that there is nothing more the city can do to stop the U.S. Marine Corps from sending helicopter flights over populated areas.
The city, which claims that the CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter is unsafe, wrote to the Marine Corps asking that flights be halted. That request was made after one of the helicopters crashed in Imperial County on Jan. 8, killing the five Marines aboard. They were stationed at the Tustin Marine Corps Air Station.
Brig. Gen. D.E.P. Miller replied this week that there “was no conclusive evidence other than (the helicopter) is safe and reliable.”
“It’s a shame that people may die because of the word ‘conclusive,’ ” Saltarelli said. “But there’s not a whole lot we can do.”
The city can only request that the flights be halted because the Federal Aviation Administration controls the airspace over the city, Saltarelli said.
Capt. Joanne Schilling, a Marine spokeswoman, said 10,000 helicopter operations a year take place at the Tustin air station and 80% of those involve flights over the city.
Since the aircraft was put into service in 1981, the Super Stallion has been involved in several fatal crashes.
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