Teterboro no stranger to celebrities

BY CARL MACGOWAN | Newsday Staff Writer

October 13, 2006

The New Jersey airport that Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle departed on his fatal flight is the landing strip of choice for entertainers, athletes and corporate titans looking for privacy and convenience while flying in and out of New York City.

Located seven miles from Manhattan, Teterboro Airport is the aviation equivalent of a rest stop for corporate and private jets. "It's like a parking lot," Marc Lavorgna, spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns and operates the airport.

Lavorgna said Teterboro handles no commercial or scheduled air traffic. It is a "reliever" airport that takes pressure off other area airports.

Its two runways are restricted to aircraft weighing no more than 100,000 pounds, Lavorgna said. The Port Authority two years ago blocked a plan to allow larger planes at the facility.

The airport, the oldest in the metropolitan area, launched its first flight in 1919, two years after the property was purchased by Walter C. Teter. The Port Authority later bought the land from another private owner in 1949 and leased it to a series of operators until Dec. 1, 2000, when the Port Authority assumed day-to-day operations.

Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart flew at Teterboro during the 1920s barnstorming era, when crowds gathered to watch daredevils swoop and dive through the sky. Entertainer and amateur pilot Arthur Godfrey reportedly lost his pilot's license in 1954 after buzzing Teterboro's control tower in his DC-3.

Contemporary celebrities and sports teams regularly use the airport, Lavorgna said, but he declined to identify them by name.

Port Authority officials are trying to cut the number of flights by 10 percent in response to safety concerns and noise complaints, Lavorgna said. Teterboro handled about 194,000 flights last year, down from 202,320 in 2004.

"It's a very busy airport and we felt the need to reduce operations," Lavorgna said.