Sunday, August 26, 2007 Lapu to expand airstrip where kites are banned
FOLLOWING the fatal crash of a military chopper in Barangay Gun-ob that killed nine people last April 29, a Lapu-Lapu City legislator has proposed to expand the area where flying of kites, captive balloons, and model planes is prohibited.
A kite’s nylon cord that got snagged by the helicopter’s main rotor blade was believed to have caused the accident, which also injured four others.
Philippine Air Force (PAF) Wing Commander Brigadier General Arthur Mancenido already asked that the airspace over residential areas near the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) and the military airbase is cleared because of low-flying aircrafts.
The airbase is inside the MCIAA compound.
The victims in last April’s incident were inside two passenger tricycles when the PAF’s Huey chopper fell on them.
The chopper was on its way back to the Mactan Benito Ebuen Air Base after a training flight over the South Road Properties in Cebu City City Ordinance 243 only set a three-mile radius from the center of the airport as the area considered dangerous for flying of kites or model planes.
Mancenido suggested that it is widened to five miles, or 8,046.33 meters.
In his letter, he said the five-mile radius requirement is contained in Administrative Order No. FSS-6.06, which the Air Transportation Office issued in 1973.
Local Government Units were asked to comply by enacting their own ordinances.
For the ordinance to conform with the order, City Councilor Junard Chan filed an amending measure, which also increased the fine from P50, or an imprisonment of not more than six months, to P5,000.
The amendment is due for discussion in a public hearing.
Chan said he expects no one, especially those living near the airport, will object because it is for everybody’s safety. (AIV)
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