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Saturday, July 28, 2007


Jul. 28, 2007 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) --
Bunney Brenneman remembers June 13, 2005.

She was in the kitchen of her Fort Lauderdale home when the decorative plates started rattling on the shelves.

Then came a thunderous crash.

'It was such a loud noise,' she said. 'The earth shook.'

Just blocks away, a cargo plane that had taken off from nearby Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport crash-landed on a residential street -- striking palm trees, cars and a home before bursting into flames.

The three men onboard sustained serious injuries, but no one died.

On Thursday, more than two years after the plane belly-flopped, the National Transportation Safety Board released a report that said that 'inadequate maintenance' of the DC-3S cargo plane caused the left engine to fail.

'Oil was seen leaking from the front nose section,' the report shows. 'Smoke coming from the left engine was observed and reported by the airport controller.'

IN FLIGHT PATH

With the runway at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport less than three miles away from the Coral Ridge Isles community, some residents worry that history may repeat itself.

'We have seen and heard of a lot of plane accidents where people are killed,' said Ralph Williams, who has lived in his home since 1972. 'That worries me tremendously.'

Several times each day, planes fly directly over Williams' home.

They're potentially dangerous -- and noisy, he said.

'You can't even hear the TV sometimes,' he said. 'It's pretty freaky.'

Fort Lauderdale city officials say they are working to improve the noisy conditions in the north Fort Lauderdale neighborhood. Departing jets on certain runways are required to fly north along Interstate 95 between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., to avoid flying over the residential areas, said Ted Lawson, a city spokesman.

COMMUNITY INPUT

Airport and city officials, who regularly meet with the community at homeowners association meetings, are working to expand the hours, Lawson said.

'We'll be happy with 24 hours,' he said.

But some residents are more concerned about safety.

Jose Camargo, who has lived in Coral Ridge Isles for 25 years, said he often wonders if another plane will crash in his neighborhood.

After the crash two years ago, Camargo came across the fiery wreckage while on his ritual afternoon jog.

'It was very scary,' he said. 'If it would have happened a few blocks away, it would have been even more disastrous.'

The plane's pilot, Charles Riggs, 62, of Pembroke Pines, managed to land the plane in the 1700 block of Northeast 56th Street, a residential are with wide roads. To the north and south of the crash site are narrow, curving roads.

The 53-year-old plane was on its way to Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, to deliver six slabs of granite weighing 3,200 pounds when it crashed.

The pilot, co-pilot and passenger all escaped before the plane exploded.

But Brenneman, who is the president of her community's homeowner association, said people who live near airports can't live in fear of possible crashes.

'A plane could come down. That's the reality,' she said. 'But we must go on and live our lives.'

Newstex ID: KRTB-0123-18487972


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