Genesee County Airport

In order to secure a federal grant for a new helicopter, Mercy Flight apparently needs a long-term lease for its facility at the Genesee County Airport.

During Tuesday's Public Service Committee meeting, Legislator Ray Cianfrini said he's concerned that the proposed terms of the lease are not in the county's best interest.

The proposed lease would cap rent increases at 2 percent per year and Cianfrini is concerned that in the future, the county could be losing out on a good deal of potential revenue.

"It just seems to me that 25 years down the road, this could be a pittance compared to what other people are paying for similar space," Cianfrini said. "I don't ever want to lose Mercy Flight. They're a tremendous asset. But as a lawyer, as a legislator and as a taxpayer, I think it's a horrible lease for Genesee County."

David Wozniak, deputy superintendent of county highways, pointed out that Mercy Flight leases additional space for its ambulance service which isn't tied to the hangar lease. Mercy Flight owns its own hangar, and plans to build a new one, and leases the land it sits on. Also, there's no cap on the price of fuel Mercy Flight buys from the county.

The terms of the lease require a mutual agreement to renew every five years, but because of a discrepancy between the lease language and supporting documents provided to legislators, a vote on the lease was tabled and the matter was referred to the Ways and Means Committee.

Ways and Means meets today at 4 o'clock in the Old Courthouse.

A student pilot apparently forgot to put down the landing gear on his plane today leading to an unintentional crash landing at the Genesee County Airport this afternoon.

While the crash, reported at 12:17 p.m., caused an estimated $40,000 damage to a 2004 Cessna, there were no injuries, fire or fuel spill.

The student pilot, according to a Sheriff's Office release, was 66-year-old Michael E. Pearson, of Pittsford.

His instructor was Robert J. Roberts, 35, of Rochester.

The student and instructor were doing "touch-and-go" training at the airport this afternoon at the time of the accident.

The plane skidded 546 feet down the runway.

The investigation is continuing, conducted by Deputy Lonnie Nati and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Assisting at the scene were Genesee County Emergency Services, Town of Batavia Fire and Mercy EMS.

(initial report)

Michael Dorobilala, a student at Robert Morris, thought his time in a plane flying over Genesee County today was "awesome."

The best part?

"Going down because it gives you a swoosh of excitement and you’re like tingly."

Michael was one of 60 kids to show up at the Genesee County Airport today to get a first-hand experience flying a small airplane. The Young Eagles event was sponsored by Experimental Aircraft Association chapters out of Buffalo and Rochester.

The EAA has been running the Young Eagles worldwide since 1992, when the idea was launched with the goal of getting one million children at the throttles of a small plane by the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight. To date, more than 1.6 million kids from 90 countries have been through the program.

Rochester Chapter President Norm Isler said the EAA wants to not only expose kids to aviation, but to show them a practical use for math and science.

Pilot Mary "Willie" Mattocks said, to her, being able to fly is a privilege, so a program like Young Eagles is a chance to give back.

The flight is more than a tag-along ride. The children actually are given a chance to fly the plane.

"It's a fantastic event for children," said Mattocks, who owns her own Piper Cherokee and has been flying for 20 years. "It gives them an introduction to flying and I think it stays with them for the rest of their lives. They get just such a lot of pleasure out of it."

As for Mattock's assessment of Michael, she wrote in his log book, "Michael will be an awesome pilot. Keep going with the math and science. Straight and level at 2,500 feet. Executed turn at Darien Lake."

The Genesee County Airport will soon have a new tenant -- a flight school with locations in Dunkirk and Lancaster wants to start operations in Batavia.

The Legislature's Public Service Committee approved a lease Monday with Bob Miller Flight Training for five years worth $8,469 annually.

Legislators noted it will be the only flight school in Genesee County and the first at the airport since 2007.

The school will use two offices in the terminal and lease two of the new T-hangars, when they're finished.

During the public service meeting, County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens, noted that somewhere in the neighborhood of $13 million in federal funds have been spent on the airport since 1998.

During that same time, the county's share of airport expense has been about $350,000.

Hens said the airport has produced positive cash flow in all but one year during the past 12 years. The airport, from a county-expense viewpoint, has paid for itself, Hens said.

"I’ve always promoted the airport as being self-sustaining," Hens said. "When you look at the numbers total, it is. That’s not including all of the indirect benefits, the sales tax, the jobs."

Of course, there are critics who say the county airport should be a private business, not a public facility.

Hens sees the airport as just another hub in public transportation.

"Not everybody uses it, but not everybody uses the buses that run through town," Hens said. "Without it, there’s a piece of the community that's either not going to do business or they're not going to travel somewhere.

"We put four or five million dollars a year into our county roads and it doesn’t pay us back anything," Hens added. "But, if you didn't put the $5 million bucks into the roads, it's going to be a bumpy ride to the office and the kids are going to be unsafe riding on the school buses."

An airplane engine is reportedly on fire at the Genesee County Airport.

The plane is on the ground.

Town of Batavia Fire is responding.

It's on the east runway.

UPDATE 9:47 p.m.: Engine 24 to proceed emergency, all other Town of Batavia units, non-emergency. Mercy EMS requested to the scene for victim with burn to his hands.

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A new eight-bay hangar at the Genesee County Airport, with a price tag of about $600,000, received an initial OK from the Public Services Committee this afternoon.

In three resolutions -- one for construction of a required taxiway apron, another for a consultation agreement, and one for creation of a capitol project budget -- the legislative committee put in motion an effort to increase the amount of hangar space for airplanes at the facility.

Tim Hens, county highway superintendent, said the hangars will generate $30,000 in revenue.

"We already have a waiting list," Hens said. "The last set we built, we filled before they were even completed. The hangars will have an 11-year payback."

The committee voted unanimously to award the contract for apron construction -- at $359,704 -- to Stafford's A.D. Call & Sons. Hens noted it's been a long time since a local contractor won a bid with the county of this significance.

The FCC provides the grant money for construction of the apron, which is required to get the grant money to proceed with the design of the hangars.

C&S Companies out of Syracuse was awarded the design contract.

Once the design is completed, the actual construction of the hangars will go out to bid.

Sales-tax revenue has already been set aside to pay for the anticipated $600,000 construction cost, according to County Manager Jay Gsell.

On the same committee agenda today, the committee approved purchase of two new vehicles for the highway department. The winning bidder is Van Bortel Ford in Pittsford. Some committee members expressed an interest in awarding the contract to Le Roy Motors, which offered a bid only $300 higher than Von Brotel. Gsell cautioned the committee that state law prohibits "local preference" in awarding contracts.

A vintage jet based at the Genesee County Airport and once restored and owned by actor John Travolta crashed yesterday due to engine failure.

The 1947 Viper came down just short of the runway at 3:20 p.m. at  Rochester International Airport after the pilot tried to return to the airport five minutes after takeoff.

The pilot, Peter Treichler, 40, of East Aurora, suffered a back injury and is in satisfactory condition, reported the Democrat and Chronicle.

The wooden aircraft hit on its belly. Pieces were scattered 200 feet and the runway was shut down for three hours, causing flight delays and some cancellations.

UPDATE: RNews has a picture of the crashed plane.