{"id":22020,"date":"2022-05-10T00:03:37","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T00:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=22020"},"modified":"2022-05-10T00:04:59","modified_gmt":"2022-05-10T00:04:59","slug":"avgas-coalition-expresses-concerns-about-unsafe-elimination-of-100ll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/state-news\/california\/avgas-coalition-expresses-concerns-about-unsafe-elimination-of-100ll\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Avgas Coalition Expresses Concerns About Unsafe Elimination of 100LL"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Photo above – Reid-Hillview of Santa Clara County Airport. Photo by Mike Fizer.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a May 6 letter<\/a> to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen, a wide array of aviation organizations and associations across the country outlined the crucial need for 100LL fuel to be available at California\u2019s Reid-Hillview of Santa Clara County Airport, and all public-use airports across the country, while the industry works with the administration to find a fleetwide fuel solution as quickly as possible. The letter explained that the issue is one of both safety and discrimination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter was signed by the more than 110 members of the Avgas Coalition<\/a>, a group of aviation stakeholders aligned on the need for a smart and safe transition to an unleaded fuel solution that works for the entire general aviation fleet. The coalition represents the many interests and perspectives on this transition, and members have pledged to work together and use the necessary resources to make safe unleaded avgas for all aircraft a reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe need to remove lead from aviation fuel is something\neveryone is behind,\u201d said AOPA President Mark Baker. \u201cWhat\u2019s happening at\nReid-Hillview Airport in California is having a chilling effect in moving\nforward with a safe and smart transition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

General aviation leaders expressed safety concerns about the\nrushed decision by Santa Clara County officials to unilaterally prevent the\nsale of 100LL fuel at Reid-Hillview Airport and San Martin Airport as of\nJanuary 1. The letter pointed out that many of the 200,000 aircraft in the\ncurrent general aviation piston fleet require higher-octane fuel to fly safely,\nand that misfuelling can cause detonation and engine malfunction resulting in\ncatastrophic engine failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not having 100LL available can lead to the grounding of\nnearly 30 percent of the piston fleet, which accounts for 70 percent of all\ngeneral aviation fuel sales in the United States. General aviation piston\naircraft that require higher-octane fuel are often performing life-saving\nemergency response, search and rescue, law enforcement, and other humanitarian\nmissions. The lack of 100LL fuel at Reid-Hillview has already had a negative\nimpact on humanitarian flights because aircraft are now unable to refuel at the\nairport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DOT and FAA leaders are currently in discussions with Santa\nClara County officials to resolve longstanding noncompliance issues at\nReid-Hillview, including measures that impact pilot and community safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter explained that the action to suddenly not offer\nfuel that had recently been available by an obligated airport to the aircraft\nand engines that require it \u201ccould pose a violation of federal grant\nobligations by creating an access restriction to that airport and unjust\ndiscrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter went on the state that the Avgas Coalition\nrespectfully requests “that any agreement include the availability of\n100LL fuel at Reid-Hillview during a transition to unleaded fuel \u201c\u2026 Allowing the\nCounty\u2019s unilateral action to unfairly discriminate against certain users of\nour public-use airport system is wrong and if not addressed could exacerbate\nthe situation by causing a domino effect at airports across the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter also reminded government officials that the\nentire industry\u2014including refiners, producers, distributors, engine\nmanufacturers, pilots, airports, and FBOs\u2014 is working closely with the Biden\nadministration to find a fleetwide unleaded replacement fuel no later than\n2030.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo above – Reid-Hillview of Santa Clara County Airport. Photo by Mike Fizer. In a May 6 letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen, a wide array of aviation organizations and associations across the country outlined the crucial need for 100LL fuel to be available at California\u2019s Reid-Hillview of Santa […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22021,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-california","category-national-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Reid-Hillview-of-Santa-Clara-County-Airport.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22020"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22024,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22020\/revisions\/22024"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}