San Diegos Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport still using leaded fuel

When San Diego rolled out an unleaded aviation fuel at Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in 2024, it was billed as a step toward cleaner skies.Since then, pilots have bought two dozen gallons of it, while more than 1 million gallons of leaded fuel have gone through the same pumps.The city-owned airfield in Kearny Mesa, known to the Federal Aviation Agency as MYF, is the highest lead-polluting general aviation airport in the country, based on federal data obtained by inewsource through a records request.Last year, it sold more leaded fuel than in any year in over a decade, the news outlet found.

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By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Never miss a story Much of that fuel goes into training planes.

Flight schools, including Coast Air, a private company that brings in student pilots from around the world, account for a large portion of the leaded fuel sold at the airport. Aircraft release roughly half their exhaust during takeoff and landing.Trainees spend much of their time on touch-and-go drills, repeatedly landing and lifting off again without stopping.

According to inewsource, the routes used for those drills pass over or within 2 miles of more than 30 schools.Since these planes use unleaded fuel, the combustion leads to undeniable chances of lifelong damage in humans.Lead, banned from car gasoline starting in the 1970s and absent from commercial airliner fuel, does lasting harm to the brain and nervous system. Children are the most vulnerable.

Health authorities say no level of exposure is safe, and even brief contact can stunt growth, impair hearing and speech, shorten attention spans and lower IQ.The EPA concluded in 2023 that emissions from planes burning leaded gasoline endanger public health.

A year later, Gov.Gavin Newsom signed the first state law banning leaded aviation...