Concluding that a ban on jets at Palm Beach County Park Airport (LNA) in Lantana, Florida, might violate federal grant assurance agreements, the FAA has indicated plans to undertake a study to determine whether introducing such aircraft would affect the safety and efficiency of LNA and surrounding airspace.

The determination and study comes in response to a complaint filed with the Orlando Airports District Office by a retired Eastern Airlines pilot, Errol Forman, who had received warnings after landing his Cessna Citation I/SP at the airport. Forman had called the ban discriminatory, but the airport argued that the ban, which was initially put in place in 1973, was grandfathered under the Airport Noise and Capacity Act (ANCA) of 1990.

After further review, though, the FAA’s Southern Region Airports Division determined that the ban isn’t necessarily grandfathered, since Palm Beach County had altered its regulations and implemented new agreements involving the jet ban after ANCA was adopted. “This restriction is not subject to the grandfathering provision of ANCA and is being used to deny access to the airport in a manner that is not consistent with paragraph (a) of Grant Assurance 22,” the agency determined.

However, the FAA also said the ban could be permitted if deemed necessary for safety purposes. “At this time, it is appropriate for this office, in coordination with the Air Traffic Organization, to assess this matter further,” the agency said.

Forman is awaiting the outcome of that study, said Alan Armstrong, who is representing Forman in the case. Armstrong noted that past actions regarding the ban had referenced noise concerns, but there had been no noise study and "hence no non-compatible land-use problem—just random calls from people who lived near the airport complaining about noise.”

Armstrong also cited a previous ruling involving Pompano Beach, which he said “made it clear to me that even if the airport sponsor was exempt from the requirements of Part 161, nevertheless, it still had a duty to make the airport available on reasonable terms and conditions without unjust discrimination.”

While not a party to this complaint, NBAA, which has been actively involved in a number of airport access restriction cases, is monitoring the progress of the LNA case.