San Martin Airport is a $hithole

There are some concerning deficiencies related to safety and security at San Martin Airport (E16), operated by Santa Clara County.

Safety Issues

• Movement Area Surface Paint: The surface paint in some areas of taxiways at San Martin Airport has faded and in some cases, is non-existent. For example, the taxiway center line at the north end of taxiway X-Ray, across from San Martin Aviation and the north hangars, is completely missing.
• Movement Area Pavement Conditions: The north end of taxiway X-Ray, across from San Martin Aviation, is in severe disrepair. The pavement is cracking and spalling and has  large potholes and bumps. This area needs to be completely resurfaced. In addition, other areas around the airport, on taxiways and runways, need crack sealing and repair.
• Lack of Vector Control: There is a large population of ground squirrels and jackrabbits at the San Martin Airport and they continually are running across movement areas, posing a hazard to taxing, departing, and landing aircraft. This is problematic for several reasons: 1) trying to avoid these animals during flight operations and 2) the dead animals attract birds of prey to the airfield, and I am worried about a potential bird strike. Vultures circle low and around the airport runway. I have personally seen vultures on movement surfaces eating the carrion and had some close calls while landing.
• Inoperative Facilities and Equipment: Due to the deteriorating condition of San Martin Airport, there are several pieces of equipment that have been, in the past, or are currently inoperative. Previously, the visual approach slope indicator (VASI), which is a system of lights on the side of an airport runway threshold that provides visual descent guidance information during final approach was inoperative for some time on Runway 14 without a proper NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions).

Previously, the airport’s rotating beacon was frozen in place and did not rotate. This is a safety issue for pilots attempting to identify the airport, in both night VMC (visual meteorological conditions) and IMC (instrument meteorological conditions). There was no NOTAM for E16 indicating the airport beacon is unserviceable for weeks and when it finally was NOTAM’d, it took months to fix. 

Additionally, parts of the AWOS (Automated Weather Observation System) are unserviceable including the present weather indication. Here is a recent METAR from San Martin:

METAR KE16 171655Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 11/09 A3014 RMK AO2 PWINO PNO

There is also a NOTAM indicating that the AWOS broadcast is unreliable.

E16 Service AUTOMATED WX BCST SYSTEM PRESENT WX Unreliable. Expiration estimated. E16 02/006

Calling the phone number associated with the AWOS results in a barely audible broadcast message. The present weather indication has been unserviceable for over a year and the NOTAM about the unreliable AWOS has been posted since December 2023. Lastly, while now resolved in December 2023, there was a period of approximately 2 months before that date where the weather observations were not being uploaded and disseminated via the internet.

• Lack of Signage on Taxiways: The airport would greatly benefit from FAA standard signage on and around the taxiways, such as current location and directional signage. Adding this signage would increase pilot situational awareness and ground operations safety.
• Foreign Object Debris in Movement Areas: Tenants at San Martin Airport report that they are finding FOD on taxiways and runways, such as rocks, screws, and bolts. The concern here should be obvious, as it could damage airplanes if they are ingested into air intakes or struck by parts of the aircraft.
• Availability of Acceptable Fuel: Due to the safety impact of no longer carrying 100LL fuel at Santa Clara County airports, I would expect that the County is working with alacrity towards making fuel available that is acceptable for all aircraft that cannot use 97UL fuel.

Security Issues

• Access Control: Access to the airport is currently controlled by several vehicle gates and pedestrian doors that require a 4-digit key code to unlock. While the pedestrian doors all have different unlock codes, the vehicle gates do not and share one code. The codes have never changed since 2020 (when I started flying at E16). In addition, these codes are shared by tenants with visitors, making it impossible to verify that only authorized users can access the airport

Gavilan Community College bases its Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT) program at the San Martin Airport. They are based out of buildings and hangars near the E16 Terminal Building. The lack of access control has resulted in instances where students are drag racing up and down the runway at night. This is very concerning as there are frequent night operations that occur at San Martin Airport.

General Maintenance Issues

• Non-Movement Area Surface Paint: The surface paint on the South Ramp has faded in many places and in some cases, is non-existent. For example, taxiway center lines and “T” markings need to be repainted. The issue of faded surface paint is not just limited to the South Ramp, however, as similar issues exist in the hangar rows. 
• Foreign Object Debris (FOD) in Non-Movement Areas: Tenants at San Martin Airport report that they are finding FOD in non-movement areas, such as rocks, screws, and bolts. The concern here is that FOD could damage aircraft if they are ingested into air intakes or struck by parts of the aircraft.
• Lack of Vector Control: Tenants have reported that there is a lack of animal abatement in hangars. Most recently, there have been squirrels, rats, snakes, and birds making residence in hangars. This is a concern because animals can chew through wiring and damage other aircraft fixtures.
• Lack of Hangar Maintenance: Tenants report that their hangars are in disrepair and many hangars have leaks in the roofing. I have a leak in my hangar roof. In addition, the bathrooms in the hangars often need of cleaning and supplies.
• South Ramp Tie-Down Ropes: Many of the tie-down ropes in the South Ramp area are so deteriorated, that their tensile strength is completely compromised. On more than one occasion, attempting to tie down an airplane resulted in the rope snapping and disintegrating to dust in my hands.
• Vegetation Control: Until recently, the weed growth was out of control on the South Ramp, as they were growing in the taxiways. Some of the weeds measured as tall as my waist and I am a little over 6 feet tall. While the weeds were eventually remediated, they need to be abated on a more consistent basis. In addition to weed abatement, there needs to be more consistent mowing of grass around the airport to reduce fire danger.
• North Entrance Area: The pavement here is also in severe disrepair, especially the area immediately outside the gate. There are large bumps, potholes, and areas that have washed away. This area needs to be completely resurfaced. The vehicle gate at this entrance has been inoperative since February 2024.
• Frequently Broken Vehicle Gates: Vehicle gates have been in various states of functionality since 2020.
• County Staffing: The staffing and responsiveness of the Airport and Roads Division is low. Often, tenants have to wait a long time to have questions answered or have action taken on specific requests.
• Overflowing Dumpsters: Often the dumpsters at the airport are overflowing and aren’t emptied for long periods when they become full.

The County has received millions of dollars in FAA AIP grants to perform maintenance and upkeep of the San Martin Airport. They haven’t applied for one since 2020, I suspect out of laziness. These grants are in addition to the rent monies it currently receives from airport tenants. The County raises the rental rates every year based on the CPI. My current hangar costs SEVEN HUNDRED dollars a month. The current state of the San Martin Airport indicates that those monies are not being reinvested to improve existing infrastructure or build new infrastructure. The rates are not commensurate with the current state of E16.

Attempts at Resolution

Tenants of San Martin Airport have repeatedly expressed the concerns listed above with the staff of the Airports and Roads Department, including Director Eric Peterson. I sent a letter to Director Peterson describing the same issues listed in this letter in July 2023 and never received a response. I know many other tenants at E16 have also raised the same issues with County staff, multiple times via phone, email and via work tickets on the maintstar.co portal (the County’s work tracking system), and received no resolution.

In previous meetings with tenants, Director Peterson indicated that nothing could be done about these issues due to funding, and indeed, none of them have been resolved. Their funding would be in better shape if the County applied for FAA AIP grants, which they haven’t since 2020.

In a meeting on March 28th, 2024, Director Peterson removed the assembled tenants from the terminal building using two Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Deputies after we started questioning the state of maintenance at E16.

I am not optimistic about resolving any issues in future meeting, as fliers that were posted around the airport announcing the meeting and the issues to be discussed were taken down and torn up by County staff.