Lindbergh Open to Argentine Chief : Port Officials Decide to Let Noisy ‘Tango 1’ Land Here

Putting diplomacy above decibels, the Board of Port Commissioners agreed Tuesday to allow the aging and noisy aircraft carrying the president of Argentina to use Lindbergh Field.

The board voted 4-0 to allow Argentine President Raul Alfonsin’s official aircraft, a 25-year-old Boeing 707 known as Tango One, to use Lindbergh even though it will exceed noise standards.

“I don’t think this action will bring a rash of heads of state (in loud airplanes) flying into San Diego,” said Commissioner Raymond W. Burk. “I think this is a one-time incident.”

Alfonsin is set to arrive in San Diego from Philadelphia on June 19, accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Argentina Theodore E. Gildred Jr., the prominent San Diego developer and philanthropist. Alfonsin is touring the country on a private visit.

The 60-year-old president is scheduled to be greeted by Mayor Maureen O’Connor and Gov. George Deukmejian. He will tour Balboa Park and UC San Diego before receiving the first annual Man of the Americas Award for Democracy and Peace from the La Jolla-based Institute of the Americas. He will depart June 21 for Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Nay Had Said Nay

Port Director Don Nay had turned down the request for a noise waiver, saying his hands were tied by a regulation passed by the commission two years ago, when a Brazilian airline sought to bring its 707s to Lindbergh. The regulation, in effect, bans 707s and DC-8s from the field unless they are equipped with noise-deadening “hush kits.”

Further, Nay said, the specter of $210 million worth of lawsuits by Point Loma area residents pending against the Port District because of aircraft noise makes him loathe to take “any overt act to condone the operation of this aircraft which has been banned by the port commission.”

Paul Downey, the mayor’s press secretary, told port commissioners that the mayor has received word from Nancy Palmtag--a leader in two groups involved in the noise fight, the Airport Coalition and the Loma Portal Civic Club--that the groups do not oppose the Argentine request. Nay noted wryly that Palmtag is among those suing the Port District.

Sid McSwain, who represents the Middletown Property Owners Assn. on the Airport Coalition, said that Palmtag did not speak for him and that he opposes the waiver.

He suggested that the Argentine plane be sent to North Island Naval Air Station or Miramar Naval Air Station, which are not covered by the noise regulations. Vice President George Bush’s official plane, Air Force Two--also a Boeing 707--used North Island during Bush’s recent campaign stop in San Diego.

Civil Airport Preferred

But Phillip Ray Wood, a vice president with Gildred’s Lomas Santa Fe Co., said a civilian airport is preferable to a military one for Alfonsin in terms of diplomatic protocol and political symbolism. He asked that “courtesy and international good will prevail.”

Alfonsin, elected in 1983, is Argentina’s first civilian president after eight years of military rule and American officials hope he can become the first Argentine president to complete his term since 1928.

Wood, acting as an unofficial advance man for the visit, said that permission has already been secured for the plane to land in Los Angeles and San Francisco. He said the official party would have no trouble abiding by a Port District rule that restricts takeoffs after 10 p.m.

“Suppose they have an extra drink and don’t take off until 10:15?” asked Commissioner Louis Wolfsheimer. “Do you expect the president of Argentina to be kept hostage to the Port District?”

Wolfsheimer was assured that plans are for the plane to depart on Sunday morning, June 21.