Evening star., 1952-05-17
Appears
To Back Burke
As Airport Site
Doolittle Commission
Indicates Preference
Over Friendship

Experts appointed by President
Truman to study airport problems
throughout the country were in
apparent conflict today with the
recent decision in Congress to kill
a second airport for Washington
at Burke, Va.
The commission appointed to
head off disasters like the series
near Newark Airport, concluded,
among other things, that National
Airport soon will reach the satura-
ton point. After that, it will be in
adequate to safely handle local
traffic in bad or even marginal
weather, it was said.
Gen. James H. Doolittle, retired,
told newsmen yesterday his COM
mission feels National soon will be
too crowded for efficient opera
tionS. He referred to the local
problem at a news conference,
after the commission submitted
its report to the President. The
commission has been studying
Nationwide problems of airport
location for the last 80 days.
Part of Site Bought.
The Government already had
spent almost a million dollars in
acquiring the Burke site, under
a previous act of Congress when
the House eliminated the Budget
Bureaus request for an additional
SIS million to continue the prof.
ect. The Senate concurred in the
House action.
Part of the site had been bought
by the Civil Aeronautics Admin
istration. The original plan was
to spend $l4 million on the air
port.
Gen. Doolittle, while declaring
the commission would not enter
local controversies, pointed out a.
section of the general report, urg-
ing municipalities to anticipate
the needs of expanding air traffic
in their areas.
The general, who led our first
air raid on Japan, called atten-
tion to another part Of the find
tngS, which, he said, would be
applicable locally. He referred to
the political campaign in Mary
land to block Burke in order to
divert traffic from National to
Friendship Airport at Baltimore.
4O-Minute Maximum.
This section of the report said
fiatly that airports should bel
within 40 minutes travel time of
the downtown sections of the city
or cities being served.
Asked if Friendship meets this
requirement, Gen. Doolittle par
ried: with existing roads, Friend
ship is more than 40 minutes dis
tant. With improved roads, it
might be brought within 40 min
utes."
He said the important factor is
time, rather than the distance.
in surface travel.
It is the commissions opinion
that sites for additional airports
should be obtained before the
actual Saturation point of ex-
isting facilities is reached. Other
wise, the cost of land and property
acquisition might be prohibitive.
Comprehensive froward plan
ming is essential to the establish
ment of efficient, economical,
nuisance-free airports," the report
said.
Scores of Recommendations.
The commission called for more
and better airports and offered Is
major and scores of additional
general recommendations as to
airport location and use.
One urged that no new airport
be planned without clear, level
areas at least 1000 feet wide and
at least half a mile long beyond
each end of the main runways.
Beyond this the approaches
should be protected against con-
struction of buildings-through
land purchase or by zoning laws
for at least two miles in fam
shaped areas at least 5000 feet
wide at the outer ends.
Gen. Doolittle told reporters
that had such a pattern been III
eect at Newark IN. J.) airport,
only one out of the series of
crashes in the area would have
happened outside the protected
zone.
He said that would have been
the Jamaica IN. " accident
which would have been a mile or
two beyond and to one side of the
zone.
Believe Newark Airport Safe.
Gen. Doolittle and Civil Aero
nauticS Administrator Charles F.
Horne said they personally be-
neved Newark airport is safe and
should be reopened.
The third member of the COM
mission, DR.. Jerome j. Hunsaker
Of Boston, declined to comment.
Gen. Doolittle said he considered
the following the most important
single recommendation in the re-
port:
"Airports should be made a part
Of community master plans COM
pletely integrated with transporta-
ton requirements for passenger,
express. freight and postal services.
Particular attention should be
paid to limited access highways
and other transportation facilities
to reduce time to the airport from
sources of air transport business.
Funds Asked for Work
On 140 Airport Projects