A dispute between the Fairfield Municipal Airport’s fixed base operator and an ultralight pilot over airport access has escalated to the point of involving the FAA, TSA, and Fairfield Police Department, fixed base operator Bob Lyons told the Fairfield City Council Monday, September 28th.
The matter was introduced to the council by City Attorney John Morrissey, who framed the situation plainly. “It’s a situation where Bob did nothing but explain some FAA rules to an individual that was there with an ultralight plane,” Morrissey said. “He pulled his plane out at dusk — he had it trailered on the ground of a grass runway. Shouldn’t have been out on the grass runway, but that happened. Bob addressed it with him, and the man got pretty in Bob’s face — and then in Bob’s other assistant at the fixed base operator out there, Roger.” Morrissey said the man has since taken to social media portraying the airport as unwelcoming to flyers and has not let the matter go. Morrissey then turned to Lyons and asked whether there was justification for a complaint to the FAA.
Lyons confirmed there was. “I had an incident on Labor Day evening. I called the next day about a safety issue I felt was a safety issue,” Lyons said. “The bottom line is I feel that we have a safety issue and I’m going to have a complaint with the FAA over it, an investigation. I’ve also contacted the TSA. I was threatened. I’ve got the chief of police involved and he won’t let it go.”
Lyons said he has contacted the FAA three times and the matter has been referred to the Kansas City Flight Standards District Office. He described how the Labor Day incident unfolded — a man the airport has identified as Mr. Diaz gained entry to the airport by getting a local hangar tenant to let him through the gate without Lyons’ permission. He then drove across the ramp and the grass, parked his vehicle next to an active runway, and unloaded and flew his ultralight. A witness who was flying at the time saw the vehicle parked next to the active grass runway for more than an hour. “He called me the next day and told me that he wanted access to the airport with the gate key. I denied it and then now it snowballed,” Lyons said. The man then escalated his demands, going through City Administrator Doug Reinert to demand gate access by September 11th at noon — with an implied threat of unspecified consequences if not granted. “We didn’t know what he was going to do. He’s threatened twice.”
Council member Tom Twohill noted the significance of the grass runway’s location. “It’s not just a secondary runway — it’s perpendicular to the main runway. Sometimes in wind conditions, that one is the one that you need to use. So if there’s a vehicle parked on it, that’s a problem.” Lyons confirmed the vehicle was parked right next to the active grass runway for over an hour. Morrissey added that the grass runway is a valuable amenity at the airport. “I’ve had friends over the years fly gliders there as well as ultralights — it’s just perfect for those types of planes,” he said.
Lyons said he went out of his way to offer the man every reasonable accommodation short of unrestricted gate access. “I gave him every opportunity during business hours to pull his truck inside the gate and I would cone it and he could go fly it,” Lyons said. “He said there’s no way he can taxi his ultralight airplane to the grass runway to fly it and he’s demanding a gate key — and there’s no way I’m going to allow it. He’s making it like I’m not allowing him to fly and that is not the case at all. There is only one way with him and that’s gate access to the airport to do as he pleases. That’s his demand.” Lyons also told the man he could rent a hangar, which would allow him through the gate during business hours — an offer the man also refused.
Council member Bob Ferguson asked whether the alleged threats rose to the level of criminal conduct rather than just civil infractions. Morrissey confirmed the matter had already been discussed with the county attorney’s office. Lyons then described a meeting that took place between himself, the man, and Fairfield Police Chief Joel Smith that did not go well. “I had to cut it off and leave because of his demands — I wasn’t going to give in to his demands,” Lyons said. “He has threatened me over the phone. He said you’re looking for a fight. When I was talking to the chief and him briefly, he said it looks like you want to go toe-to-toe. And I told the chief — it’s on body cam — that he’s threatening me again and I don’t want to go toe-to-toe.” Lyons said he turned and left the meeting at that point. The TSA referral has been passed to a federal marshal, and Lyons said he was awaiting a call from the FAA the following day to move forward with a formal complaint against the man.
The airport commission has already discussed the situation and is working on a short paragraph to add to the airport ordinance to address access policy going forward. Lyons said in 31 years in the role he has never encountered anything like it. “I have every right — I’ve talked to the DOT, I’ve talked to the FAA and TSA. I have every right — that’s my job. I have to maintain safety at the airport. That was my number one thing I wanted to do when I came here 30 years ago — safety first. That’s why we got a gate. We got cameras. This is really important to me that something bad doesn’t happen — a plane crashes into a vehicle that’s parked next to the runway because I let it happen. I’m just continuing forward with it.” He said he is glad to have Morrissey and the city on his side. “I have every right to protect the airport and I will and I’m glad I got John and everybody on board. It’s really important that we protect our airport and not allow anybody that feels that they can get a gate key to roam the airport.”
Morrissey was clear that the city and airport have done nothing wrong. “As far as Bob, I see nothing that has been done to this man except us try to be polite with him and explain safety. Same way with Roger, and the same way with the commission.” He noted that the man has now filed a Freedom of Information Act request of about three pages seeking 60 to 70 pieces of information from the city. “Which I consider personally harassment. Once we tell him what we can and can’t do — I don’t want this to be a game — but he’ll find out what else can be discovered. And if the FAA gets involved, we’ll make sure he remembers that if he’s going to throw those kinds of stones, there’s bigger rocks that can be thrown than what he’s got.” Morrissey also pushed back on what the man has been saying on social media. “If you run into some social media about what’s going on out at our airport, the guy makes it sound like we have just discriminated all over the place against him, that we in some way have made it clear to him that we don’t like people coming and flying in our area — and that he’s a victim.”
Mayor Boyer expressed the council’s full support for Lyons. “We appreciate your steadfastness, Bob, and you have our full support. Hopefully this will be resolved.” Lyons was direct in his response. “I hope soon because it’s not good.”
