MOVE COMES AFTER AIRPORT COMPLAINT

LEXINGTON, Kentucky USA — A group of model-rocket hobbyists who drew the ire of a local air-traffic control official this week says it will suspend launches in Fayette County until it can find a new location that is out of the flight path of Blue Grass Airport.

In a statement, the Bluegrass Rocketry Society said it will cancel any planned launches at Lexington's Masterson Station Park and suspend any launches in Lexington until it can find a "suitable public or private launch site."

Earlier this week, the manager of the air-traffic control tower at Blue Grass Airport wrote a letter to Mayor Jim Newberry, expressing concern that the group had launched multiple rockets on Saturday from Masterson Station Park -- which is in the flight path of the airport.

In the letter, air-traffic manager Duff Ortman said that the model-rocket launches created a potential hazard to aircraft and that air traffic had to be rerouted for several hours "to ensure the safety of the flights."

City parks and recreation officials also said that the society didn't have permission to launch from the park.

The rocket group says that it obtained a permit from an FAA office in Louisville that allows it to launch rockets from the park and that no rockets were launched when planes were nearby.

"At no time ... was there any danger to aircraft landing and departing" Blue Grass Airport, said the statement by Darryl Hankes, president of the Bluegrass Rocketry Society.

"Safety has been and always will be the first priority for our members," the statement says. "We never fly any of our sport or model rockets when aircraft are present."

Hankes said the group thinks it complied with all rules, but it also understands the perception created by news reports of the tower manager's concerns. That's why it decided to suspend launches.

"We do not wish to engender any fear of flying into Bluegrass Field," the statement says.

According to the rocketry society's Web site, launches have been held or scheduled about every other month at the park.

Copyright © 2007, Lexington Herald-Leader.