San Jose Airport
San Jose has long looked to Moffett to relieve general aviation (light private
aircraft) and cargo capacity at San Jose International
Airport (SJC), so that it can accomodate more commercial passenger service.
San Jose airport now handles cargo and general aviation in addition to jet
passenger service. San Jose also operates Reid-Hillview airport by Eastridge
Mall, but is on record planning to close that airport due primarily to safety
concerns for the nearby residential areas. SJC's flight capacity is further
limited by San Jose's anti-noise ordinances which protect residential neighborhoods
from excessive disturbance from the airport. The San Jose curfew prohibits
flights into or out of SJC before 6:30am.
An environmental impact study released in April 1996 found that Reid-Hillview
Airport is safter for its' adjoining neighborhoods than any other use of
the land, except if it were turned into a park. For instance, the additional
car traffic brought by residential and commercial development would be expected
to kill and injure many more people than plane crashes [20].
"While there have been more than 30 accidents since 1962 -- in which
planes landed outside the airport's boundaries -- no one on the ground has
ever been injured."