20 Years In the past The Chicago Political Machine Broke Federal Legislation And Shut Down An Airport
Within the early morning of March 31, 2003, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley ordered metropolis bulldozers to gouge the floor of the only runway at Meigs Subject airport adjoining to downtown Chicago with giant X’s within the floor. He had introduced his intention to shut the airport 9 years earlier and at last determined to only destroy it, since he couldn’t shut it.
The following day he introduced that he was simply attempting to create a easy course of, and save the town cash. There was now not a motive to spend cash litigating the difficulty in courtroom, since there was no extra airport to avoid wasting. There have been planes left on the airport stranded, and people have been ultimately allowed to take off from the three,000 foot taxiway.
My first response was— Most likely a development undertaking getting underway early. However I whistled up Peter Beller at Chicago police HQ in any case and informed him “you higher go verify this out.”
20 minutes later, he known as me from his Nokia flip cellphone. “THEY’RE TEARING UP THE RUNWAY!!!”— Jason Meisner (@jmetr22b) March 31, 2023
I bear in mind having the good thought of logging into the Adler Planetarium net digicam to see what happening, however the metropolis vehicles have been shining a highlight proper at it and every thing was white. Coincidence? Absolutely you jest. That is Chicago!
We obtained the information out in any case.— Jason Meisner (@jmetr22b) March 31, 2023
Over time the airport had been house to each business and personal aviation, most lately with Nice Lakes providing United Specific service into 2001. Meigs had opened in 1948 and change into the busiest single strip airport in the US. 4 months after the demolition of the runway, a aircraft made an emergency touchdown – on the grass beside the runway, because it was unusable.
The Metropolis of Chicago was fined the maximum-allowable $33,000 for his or her unlawful destruction of the airport. And because of this the regulation was modified – the “Meigs Legacy provision” – to extend penalties nine-fold. Chicago additionally needed to repay $1 million to the FAA as a result of they used aviation funds to demolish the runway and to construct a park as an alternative.
Meigs Subject had really been the default airport for the Microsoft Flight Simulator – till it was destroyed by the town, and changed within the 2004 version of the software program.
(HT: @crucker)
