• The Publisher’s Notebook •

Open Skies and Public Safety

BY ANNE SOBLE

A bystander at Broad Beach last weekend called The News to say that he was astounded when he overheard several lifeguards and sheriff’s deputies discussing that, because the City of Malibu and the County of Los Angeles do not have laws regulating paragliding from, to, or immediately over, property in their jurisdictions, there is no way to cite anyone inappropriately using local air space.
We are still researching the specifics to make sure there aren’t FAA regulations or other laws involved, but, in the interim, there is the issue of what lifeguards and deputies concerned about public safety can do when they encounter a paraglider using the beach to launch and land, and they think this activity may be endangering the beachgoers and local residents they are charged with protecting.
Paragliding websites are rife with righteous indignation that the non-paragliding public does not appreciate the beauty of their sport and its ability to emulate the sensation of being a bird on the wing. However, the very real wonders of paragliding are not what’s at issue, but whether a community as populated as Malibu, with a high-speed main roadway, is the appropriate place for free flight.
Malibu recently experienced an accident involving an accomplished PG pilot and another with someone in training that resulted in a brush fire and a fatality, respectively. A check of the same PG websites provides ample evidence of accidents that run the gamut from near-misses with power lines, to broken bones, to other lost lives. While I and others may enjoy extreme sports, venues have to be appropriate for participants and bystanders alike.
Even the most ardent paraglider acknowledges that more and more of once permitted sites in the United States are being stricken from the rolls, usually due to liability issues. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has taken legal action to protect itself in the case of paragliding activity on its land. It may be time for other agencies and the City of Malibu to consider whether they should take more formal action to establish rules.
There should at least be tools in place to enable law enforcement, whether on the roads, hillsides or beaches, to address unsafe behavior by those who might endanger others. Philosophically, it is one thing to espouse a notion of free skies, but all aircraft is regulated. The purpose of the regulation is to protect those in the air and those on the ground.