THE BARRON AT ST CLAIR

The aircraft that had an engine failure was a Beachcraft Barron twin engine piston powered aircraft.  It experienced a connecting rod failure somewhere between St. Clair and Spirit.  Since St. Clair was the closest, that is where they went.  The aircraft is still on the field.  The owner is expecting to have to do an engine swap to get the aircraft out of St. Clair and back to Jeff City Regional Airport where the aircraft is based.  

WHAT IF

The editorial in the local news publication, (not posted on line) praises the responders to the incident at the St. Clair Airport involving the Mizzu basketball coach.    The article is obviously trying to divert attention to the fact that this could have ended very differently if Ron Blum and Keith Domke would have gotten their way, and the airport was already closed.

One of the arguments against the airport has been that it does nothing for the community.  But anyone with two cents worth of common sense would realize that it is not there to serve St. Clair .  The main purpose is to serve the needs of the aviation public.  Which it did so last week.  It gave the pilots a place to put the aircraft down. 

The WHAT IF in this situation jumps right up to the front of the line.

WHAT IF this aircraft would have had to come down like the twin otter at Sullivan, and there was no longer an airport at St. Clair?

 WHAT IF the trees were still standing at the end of the runway and they could not clear them.

WHAT IF this aircraft needed just a few more feet to make the runway, and ended up in the twelve foot deep ditch at the end of the runway.  A twin coming from Columbia Missouri would have lots a gas on board. 

WHAT IF they would have been coming back from IL, and would have had this happen and landed to the North, and hit the MoDOT traffic cameras poles, or the street lights on 47.   

WHAT IF they would have made it down through the clouds, but did not see the airport because the rotating beacon is out. 

All these WHAT IFS brings up the question of liability and airport management. 

BUT,,,,,,, there is another airport “JUST DOWN THE ROAD”.  Could they have made it to Sullivan?  Apparently the pilot did not think so.  The attempts by the airport haters to diminish the importance of aviation at the St. Clair Airport, don’t seem so realistic right now, and I think I can safely say that the people on board this aircraft would disagree with them %100.  What the airport haters don’t realize is how REAL aviation is, maybe because they don’t know what reality is.   When an aircraft needs a place to land things get REAL, real quick, and the rest of the world just doesn’t have as much “REAL”
 to it at the moment.  I am sure Mr. Domke will read this and find a way to make the reality of aviation seem “NOT SO REAL” in St. Clair, but last week it was very REAL.