Harrison Ford's Plane Crash Draws Attention To Safety Concerns In Santa Monica

SANTA MONICA (CBSLA.com) — The crash-landing of a vintage aircraft in Venice has drawn attention to campaigns like Martin Rubin's to close Santa Monica Airport, where Harrison Ford was headed before crashing.

The accident involving Ford is the latest in a series of crashes at or around the airport and has residents like Rubin hoping the jets and airport itself are gone from neighboring Santa Monica.

"The community should rightfully be concerned about the health and well-being of themselves and their children, their pets, their quality of life," said Rubin, who displays a sign on his Mar Vista lawn that reads "No Jets."

The image of Ford's banged-up plane is drawing attention to campaigns like Rubin's, and a debate that has pitted Santa Monica against the Federal Aviation Administration, and neighbors against pilots.

"This airport not only provides a great economic benefit to Santa Monica and the Westside, $250-plus million of economic impact according to the city, it also protects us from high-rise development and the low arrivals of LAX traffic," Christian Fry of the Santa Monica Airport Association said.

Over the years, the airport says, it has instituted noise curfews and taken other measures to allay concerns.

Supporters point out Rubin and others bought their homes aware they were situated near an airport while opponents argue recent crashes prove their point.

In 2004, a plane struck a Mar Vista home and in 2013, a jet accident claimed four lives on board.

"We as the aviation community, I think, do a really phenomenal job at minimizing that risk," Fry said.