Irvine : Council to Hear General on Helicopter Overflights
Brig. Gen. D.E.P. Miller, commander of El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, will speak to the City Council during a scheduled 90-minute public hearing this evening on overflights by Marine helicopters.
The focus of the discussion, according to a memo to the council prepared by the city’s Public Safety Commission, will be the trouble-plagued CH-53E Super Stallion, which has been involved in a number of fatal crashes around the world. On Oct. 21, 1986, a CH-53E landed in an Irvine strawberry field, not far from the Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin, after suffering a mechanical problem. The Super Stallions, 45 of which are stationed at Tustin, were grounded for safety checks last February.
Until the safety of the Super Stallion is determined, the memo to the council states, “it is the Public Safety Commission’s recommendation that the Marine Corps avoid flying the Super Stallion over populated areas of Irvine.” The memo also advocates establishing a flight corridor from El Toro to the Tustin base and a mechanism for collecting noise complaints.
The council meets at 5:30 p.m. at the Irvine Civic Center, 17200 Jamboree Blvd. The helicopter matter is the first item on the agenda.
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