Millard Airport

[GrandpaaSmucker]

It was hot last night and the air conditioning was cranked last night or I would of heard the small plane crash behind the old Millard Bakers on 136th & Q. It crashed at 4 Am in the morning. The old guy that was flying it must have been half out of it and mistook the straight street behind the strip mall as the runway and then when he got down low enough to see he realized he was off alignment but it was way to late. The alignment with the Millard runway goes exactly over the parking lot of the strip mall. Of course that is not his version of the events. Like the story on TV says this is beginning to get out of hand.


News 7 story link- https://www.ketv.com/article/small-plan ... t/28217641

[RockHarbor]

First of all, Im glad that man is alright.

Second, I wish they would just remove it. And, rebuild it bigger and better elsewhere, at a fair distance from suburbia. Why would Millard ever need an airport (nowadays), anyways?

Why would Omaha need anything for small planes coming & going, and flying lessons, beyond the North Omaha airport and the nicer Blair highway one?

[Coyote]

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[Mr.Nuke]

Second, I wish they would just remove it.

Why?

And, rebuild it bigger and better elsewhere, at a fair distance from suburbia. Why would Millard ever need an airport (nowadays), anyways?

There are private pilots that like closer access to West Omaha be it living there or flying into conduct business in that part of the city.

Why would Omaha need anything for small planes coming & going, and flying lessons, beyond the North Omaha airport and the nicer Blair highway one?

The North Omaha airport isn't suitable for most planes it is a very short runway. Blair is ~15 miles from Millard roughly the equivalent distance to Eppley. Again the whole purpose of Millard is convenience for general aviation.

This incident isn't a Millard airport issue by the pilot's own admission. He ran out of fuel. That is in him, and it is something where the airport's location really doesn't factor into anything.

[RockHarbor]

This incident isn't a Millard airport issue by the pilot's own admission. He ran out of fuel. That is in him, and it is something where the airport's location really doesn't factor into anything.

YES, it does factor into SOMETHING. If a pilot ran short of fuel just short of ANY small airport, like this pilot did, would you rather hear a news story where the pilot landed the plane safely in a rural field or along a rural highway, OR that he miraculously landed it safely on a suburban street adjacent to the small airport -- yet, in the process, he almost hit a parked car, a woman in a minivan full of groceries, and and a kid on a bike?

This story is the very reason I don't like Millard Airport right there (anymore). It was fine when it was in the country (like the North Omaha and Blair airports). Now, its surrounded by miles of Omaha suburbia.

You have a good point, but so do I (imo).

[daveoma]

This incident isn't a Millard airport issue by the pilot's own admission. He ran out of fuel. That is in him, and it is something where the airport's location really doesn't factor into anything.

YES, it does factor into SOMETHING. If a pilot ran short of fuel just short of ANY small airport, like this pilot did, would you rather hear a news story where the pilot landed the plane safely in a rural field or along a rural highway, OR that he miraculously landed it safely on a suburban street adjacent to the small airport -- yet, in the process, he almost hit a parked car, a woman in a minivan full of groceries, and and a kid on a bike?

This story is the very reason I don't like Millard Airport right there (anymore). It was fine when it was in the country (like the North Omaha and Blair airports). Now, its surrounded by miles of Omaha suburbia.

You have a good point, but so do I (imo).

If I'm not mistaken, the original purpose of Millard airport was a vision of a future of people using airplanes to commute to work. This idea might still become a reality of flying taxis take off (pun intended).

Let's also remember that in a place with volatile weather like Omaha, it's very useful to have a weather monitoring station amongst the populated western part of the city.

[bigredmed1]

Yep and recall that the airport was there first and was an active opponent of the zoning changes that allowed the housing to go in under the glide paths.