About 120 pine trees have been yanked from South County Airport after state inspectors determined the trees posed a threat to pilots.
The trees were penetrating the airspace around the airport’s runway and the decision to remove them was made easier by the fact many of the trees were diseased, said Eric Peterson, assistant director of Santa Clara County Airports.
Every year Caltrans inspectors do a safety inspection of all county airports. Peterson said inspectors cited the hazardous trees about two or three years ago. Before the county could remove them, it had to get a grant from the FAA to cover 95 percent of the costs, he said.
The work started about four weeks ago. Landscapers still have some clean up to do before adding a dirt road around the perimeter and planting shrubs to replace the missing pine trees.
Peterson said airspace requirements have not changed in some time and it’s possible the trees were overlooked in the past as hazards. But he also said it might have taken until recent years for the trees to reach a dangerous height.
Asked how the trees became diseased, Peterson said he didn’t know but he ruled out any link to the airport’s operation.
After contractors cut the trees into three-foot sections, local residents were invited to collect wood for their fire places.
