Brown Field Municipal Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan

CHAPTER 4BACKGROUND DATA: BROWN FIELD MUNICIPAL AIRPORT AND ENVIRONSCaltrans Division of Aeronautics has acknowledged and accepted this FAA determination for airportcompatibility planning purposes (see documentation in Appendix I).There are three small helipads at the Airport located southwest of the air traffic control tower. Thehelipads are open to the public, but are used primarily by military helicopters for flight training.Although not on Airport property, a helipad operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (BorderPatrol) is located just north of the airfield. Since Border Patrol helicopters operate within the Airport’sairspace and contribute to total aircraft activity levels at the Airport, they were considered during thedevelopment of this Compatibility Plan.Table IV-1 describes other major features of the Airport. Exhibit IV-1 depicts an aerial photograph ofthe Airport and the surrounding community. Exhibits IV-2 and IV-3 present information regardingexisting and planned facilities at the Airport.4.1.3 Existing Airport ActivityIn 2006, approximately 159 aircraft were based at the Airport and there were 141,500 annual operations.An operation is defined as one departure or one arrival conducted by an aircraft; therefore, touch-and-gooperations are considered two operations. The 2006 activity levels are based on the air traffic controltower count of 135,485 annual operations, plus an estimated 6,015 annual nighttime operations. The airtraffic control tower is closed between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. Approximately 8,500 annualhelicopter operations are conducted by the Border Patrol at their heliport/helipad facility locatedimmediately north of the Airport.Local activity accounts for over two-thirds of total aircraft operations. Local activity is defined as anarrival or departure performed by an aircraft operating in the Airport’s traffic pattern or within theAirport’s airspace, while itinerant operations are those conducted by aircraft that are transitioning in andout of the Airport’s airspace. The majority of local operations at the Airport are conducted by small,single-engine aircraft. The itinerant operations at the Airport are performed mostly by business jets andBorder Patrol helicopters. Operations conducted by business jets accounted for 15 percent of totalAirport operations in 2006.4.1.4 Airport Activity ForecastThe current Brown Field Airport Master Plan (Master Plan) was adopted in May 1980 and provides two20-year (2000) forecast scenarios: 390,500 total annual operations (unconstrained) and 442,000 totalannual operations (airfield capacity). Both forecast scenarios are based on the assumption that the mostaircraft operations are performed by single-engine propeller aircraft with few operations being performedby jet aircraft. The Master Plan also concluded that initiating air carrier operations at the Airport withinthe twenty-year planning horizon was unrealistic due to a variety of operational constraints and economicfactors.4–2Brown Field Municipal Airport Land Use Compatibility PlanJanuary 25, 2010