Colorado's Centennial Airport: Health and Safety Concerns

On December 17, 2022, Jeff Lewis of Aviation Impact Reform posted a comprehensive and insightful article, Centennial: A Busy GA Airport Where Even A MidAir Collision Cannot Stir FAA to Mitigate Impacts.

A month after the mid-air collision discussed in this posting, on 6/16/2021, two physicians, a husband and wife along with their dog sustained fatal injuries when during their approach to Centennial their plane hit transmissions lines. "A post impact fire ensued that consumed most of the composite airplane."

More recently, on August 9, 2022 a pilot was fatally injured in a crash near Centennial Airport.

Centennial Airport, which is owned and operated by Arapahoe County Airport Authority, is located in Colorado roughly 15 nautical miles from downtown Denver. It is categorized as a general aviation reliever airport. This facility is used primarily to accommodate the flight training industry and private pilots. It is ranked fourth among 20,000 airports nationwide in lead pollution.

According to a February 2022 General Aviation Midair Collision Risk report, the airspace in the vicinity of this airport is known to be at heightened risk for mid-air collisions.

The Aviation Impact Reform release includes:

• A discussion on a 5/21/2021 mid-air collision that occurred at this airport including a National Transportation Safety Board report on the incident. One of the aircraft, N280KL, was registered to an address in Tualatin, Oregon. The other, N416DJ was registered to a Parker, Colorado address.
• A report on a 12/07/2022 community meeting Residents Demand Changes at Centennial Airport where a number of residents spoke out against the noise and lead emissions generated by the airport.
• A 10/19/2022 letter from the Executive Director of Centennial to the FAA Air Traffic manager, informing him that residents are considering legal action against the FAA due to an increase in noise and toxic emissions over residential communities.
• A 12/14/2022 letter to FAA's Acting Administrator Billy Nolen, signed by U.S. Representative Jason Crow and both Colorado U.S. Senators (Michael Bennet & John Hickenlooper).

Please consider when reading this article that Centennial Airport is very similar to other general aviation airports around the country, including the Hillsboro Airport, in terms of noise, lead emissions, pollution and safety risks posed by the flight training operations and private pilots who use these facilities.