Airport Watch June Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes for June 18, 2024

Board Present: Dan McInerney, Dave Blocher, Laura Hayden, Jackin Jain

Board Absent: Mike Klimczak, Jackson Skelly

Note: The Executive Board and General meetings were held via Zoom.

Meeting was called to order by Dan McInerney at 7:00 pm.

1) Treasurer's report: current bank balance is $3,734.00. Our May barbeque cost around $300.

2) Dan McInerney discussed the following items:

• Recently had airport security have a discussion about planespotting near GateGormet. This lot is called the Terminal Network Provider affectionately known as a lot for Uber drivers. If any airport security or police department states you can’t take pictures there, please let them know that we can take pictures and show them your badge. If they ask you to leave, please comply with the authority. If you can, get the name of the person, vehicle number and description of the car and send the information to a board member.  

• If you see any FOD (Foreign Object Debris) on a runway or taxiway, please report it as soon as possible to number on the back of your badge. This is dangerous and can cause serious damage to plane or people.

• A western terminal will be built in the future. This could impact in the future the access to the North Hill. Please enjoy plane spotting at this site while you can.  No date has been set for when this terminal will be built.

3) A member brought up that our map to the North Hill needs to be updated on how to get there. Dan explained that it is very bumpy ride over there and is a steep hill to climb with a car. He also mentioned he will contact Jackson Skelly to add directions to the website, so more people can make their way up the hill to take spectacular pictures and videos up there.

4) Carol Nevin and Albert Lau really enjoyed the Midway Disaster Drill they attended on June 1. Thank you to both of you for representing O’Hare Airport Watch well at this event. The O’Hare disaster drill should be coming up in 2025.

5) Upcoming Events in aviation:

• Quad Cities Airshow on June 22nd and 23rd 2024. F-22 and F-18 Growler are the headliners.

• Palwaukee Airport will be conducting a Disaster Drill on June 24th

• EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2024 will be held on July 22nd through July 28th.

6) Meeting was closed at 7:30 pm.

Respectfully submitted by Dave Blocher