Has Colonel Studied Flight Proposal?

* Re: “Jobs at Stake if Air Station Closes,” Letters, May 2:

Has Col. J.G. McDonald read every environmental document available concerning the proposed flights over Silver Strand? Has he read and analyzed every document issued by the FAA on this matter, as well as those issued by the Coastal Commission, other environmental entities and assorted experts on aeronautical, avian and related flight fields? I have.

I have attended every public meeting in order to inform myself. No one from the Navy has made any claim that resistance to this low-level, high-speed jet proposal would result in base closure. The Navy’s own 1996 document denies any significant job impacts from the acceptance or denial of this program. All hysterical scare tactics are directly traceable to local politicians and contractors greedy for a bigger piece of the pie, and uncaring of the cost to their community.

Navy pilots will not fly these planes. Phoenix Air will be the contractor. The same engineers will monitor the flights if they are flown in the Pacific Missile Test Range, instead of at our homes.

If Col. McDonald is so concerned about people being informed, he should prevail upon his friend, Supervisor John Flynn, to demand a true public hearing so that everyone can be informed--including himself. Nothing beats lights in the darkness.

JEAN ROUNTREE

Oxnard