A proposed new football stadium in Los Angeles has become the focus of controversy over safety concerns about drone aircraft, laser pointers and even potential terrorist threats.
The $1.86 billion stadium for the St. Louis Rams should they move to California would be built in Inglewood, a short distance from Los Angeles International Airport. Planes flying into the airport would come in at an elevation of 600-700 feet above ground. The proposed stadium’s highest point would be 290 feet off the ground.
That’s too little margin for error, according to Tom Ridge, former director of the Department of Homeland Security, and Mark Rosenker, former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
“Any pilot will tell you that it is during takeoff and landings when aircraft are most vulnerable not only to engine complications, but also the new and dangerous threat of drone incursions and cockpit laser attacks. Keep in mind LAX is the world’s busiest origination and destination airport and planes fly over Inglewood every 90 seconds,” they said in a joint op-ed for the LA Daily News on Aug. 14.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced last month that it would conduct a safety review of 11 structures related to the project. The review is ongoing.
“We are evaluating the situation,” FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford told the Washington Examiner Friday.
The National Football League has discounted those concerns. Eric Grubman, senior vice president for the league, said it had commissioned its own private safety study of the proposed Inglewood location, as well as other potential Los Angeles-area sites. The San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders also have expressed interest in moving to the region.
“The firm we chose is expert in these matters and is free of any actual or perceived conflicts. While we are not going to comment at this time on specifics, I can confirm that the advice rendered did not give rise to any meaningful concerns,” Grubman said.
Proponents of the project note that other major stadiums were built within shouting distance of large airports, such as New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, which is near Newark Airport.
However, that was before the rise of aerial drones. The FAA has been concerned about the growth, warning that unsafe operation of the devices poses potential threats to civilians as well as other aircraft.
An FAA report issued in late November counted 25 documented near-misses between drones and commercial aircraft in the prior six months alone. Most took place during takeoffs and landings at major U.S. airports. Near-misses were reported at JFK Airport in New York and Sky Harbor in Phoenix within the last month.
The agency has warned that football stadiums are of particular concern after several incidents in recent years involving mischief-makers flying devices over large crowds during sporting events. In October, the FAA banned flying drones over stadiums.
“Besides possibly landing a violator in jail, flying an unmanned aircraft over a crowded stadium could result in an FAA civil penalty for ‘careless and reckless’ operation of an aircraft,” the agency said in a January reminder issued just prior to the Superbowl.
The Inglewood project would potentially combine both problems and add a third — laser pointers, which can temporarily blind pilots. In January, three Delta pilots arriving at LAX were hit by pointers but managed to land without incident.
“Some argue that such events can happen anywhere. That’s true. But LAX is not just anywhere. It’s one of the busiest airports in the world located in an iconic American city. It has been a target before. Meanwhile, an NFL game is not just another game,” Ridge and Rosenker wrote. They called for a “public conversation” about the project before it moves ahead.
The two worked as consultants for AEG, an entertainment company that had previously sought to build a stadium in the region. “AEG has since publicly announced they are no longer pursuing a stadium in LA, but we continue to feel strongly about the project,” Ridge and Rosenker said.
In a February report, Ridge also warned that the site would be a tempting target for terrorists who might try to down a plane and send it into the stadium.
Philip Anschutz, the owner of AEG, also owns Clarity Media Group, which publishes the Washington Examiner.
Michael Drobac, executive director of the Small UAV Coalition, a trade group that advocates for expanding commercial use of drone aircraft, said concerns relating to the devices are overblown.
“There is no question that there are some [drone] users acting outside of what is currently legal,” he said. “But the reality is that there are so many different things that could cause problems for commercial airlines that to pinpoint drones as the problem … doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.”
