Santa Monica Airport Chief Wants Ban on Experimentals : Aviation: FAA is asked for a ruling after Thursday’s crash of a home-built plane into a home.

A day after the fiery crash of an experimental airplane in Santa Monica, the director of the Santa Monica Airport on Friday asked the Federal Aviation Administration to determine whether the airport could ban experimental aircraft from its runways.

In a letter to the the administrator of the FAA’s Western Pacific Region, airport director Hank Dittmar also asked the agency to investigate Thursday’s crash of the home-built, single-engine plane that damaged one West Los Angeles home, set fire to another and injured a passenger.

“We’re in the hot seat,” Dittmar said in an interview Friday. “We’re looking to see if it is appropriate for these aircraft to be restricted in metropolitan areas. It may be appropriate (for them to fly) in the desert, but not in a region with 7 million people.”

Dittmar said Santa Monica is investigating the airport’s options. The airport is seeking the FAA’s ruling on whether it can ban experimental aircraft because federal law prohibits flight facilities from “regulating the type of aircraft that may use the airport.”

U.S. Rep. Mel Levine (D-Los Angeles) also announced Friday that he planned to investigate why the Wheeler Express aircraft lost power and crashed. “The residents of Santa Monica and Los Angeles have the right to expect that all aircraft flying in and out of Santa Monica Airport have been rigorously checked during and after construction,” Levine said in a statement.

Thursday’s crash was the fourth at the airport since July. Nationwide, there have been 70 accidents since October, 1988, involving experimental aircraft, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. There have been 12 such accidents in California.

However, the manufacturer of the plane insisted that concern about experimental models is unwarranted.

“ ‘Experimental’ is a misnomer,” said Ken Wheeler, president of the Washington-based Wheeler Aircraft Co. “The experimental planes are not inherently unsafe. The last statistics I heard showed that the experimental planes were . . . equally as safe as commercial planes.”

Planes are judged experimental by the FAA if a private builder assembles more than half of the aircraft. There are currently more than 15,000 such aircraft in the United States.

Prices for the do-it-yourself experimental kits range from $5,000 to $100,000, said officials at the Experimental Aircraft Assn.

“That’s just the frame,” said John Burton, a spokesman for the Wisconsin-based group. “Once you put the engine, propeller and instruments in, you will have spent a lot more money.”

Experimental models must pass FAA safety checks as rigorous as those given commercial jets, Burton said. They must also be tested in rural areas for at least 50 hours before they can be flown into and out of city airports, said a spokesman for the Santa Monica Airport Assn.

“People have to realize that the builder of the experimental plane has a vested interest in the safety of it,” Burton said. “He’s going to go the extra mile to make sure that it’s safe. In some cases, they are safer than commercial planes.”

In addition to sparking concern over the experimental planes, Thursday’s crash also appeared to revive general public opposition to operation of the Santa Monica Airport.

“The airport must be closed,” said Thomas Kirwan, 63, a retired aerospace engineer. “We can’t live with it and there’s no reason we should. That airport is a criminal outrage.”

Kirwan complained that some private pilots flying out of the airport “totally disregard” rules governing takeoff corridors and fly over homes, instead of using prescribed routes.

Not all residents favor shutting down the airport.

Mary Harris, owner of one of the homes damaged in Thursday’s crash, said that she does not oppose the airport.

“I’ve lived here for 40 years and nothing like this has ever happened to me,” she said. “The airport has had a very good record.”

The airport, located in the southeast corner of Santa Monica, borders the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Palms and Culver City. It is used primarily by small private planes, executive jets, news helicopters and student pilots.

It has been the center of legal battles for decades. Residents once sued to close the airport. Pilots also brought suit, claiming that Santa Monica had exceeded its jurisdiction by trying to restrict air traffic. The controversy peaked in the late 1970s and early ‘80s.

A compromise was reached in 1984, after years of negotiation. Under its terms, Santa Monica agreed to keep the airport open until at least the year 2015 to appease the pilots and the FAA.

To appease the homeowners, Santa Monica agreed to consolidate airport facilities on the north side of the 215-acre property and to enforce anti-noise regulations.

Still, the battle rages on.

“I think it’s easy to say that most people would prefer not to have the airport,” artist Denise DuBroy said. “There’s a lot of people who have been beaten down by the system and understand the bureaucracy involved. But others are up for the fight.”

Times staff writers John Kendall and Paul Feldman contributed to this story.