South Bay fireworks show not impacted by Mineta San Jose Airport flights
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Wednesday night flights out of Mineta San Jose Airport didn't get in the way of the nearly-annual fireworks show at Downtown San Jose's Discovery Meadow.
Airport officials took a different approach this July 4th, deciding to briefly shut down its runways to keep the night sky clear.
Sparks from the Rotary Club of San Jose's fireworks event are usually sent directly under the flight path of Mineta San Jose Airport. Because of this, the Federal Aviation Administration recently raised safety concerns.
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Airport spokeswoman, Rosemary Barnes, said the move was the right course of action.
"It's a minimal impact," Barnes said. "It's important to us to be able to offer this to our community."
She said at least three commercial flights would be impacted by this change.
Away from the airport, thousands spent nearly 30-minutes viewing the non-stop pyrotechnics.
"It's going to be like the United States of America," one spectator told ABC7 News.
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"That was one of the things we wanted to make sure that wasn't going to interfere with the show," first time spectator, Scott Williams said.
Rene Briceno, on the other hand, told ABC7 he's turned the show into a family tradition.
He said planes were never a problem in his eyes. Instead, he said maneuvering through road closures and crowds require a good amount of planning.
"We've been here at least eight times since the boys were two or three," he explained. "So, we knew we needed to prepare early."
Briceno explained the atmosphere, "It just becomes magical. We don't realize just the power of what they put together, the amount of time, resources, material to put that together to create such a show."
Wednesday night's spectacle included thirty-minutes of perpetual pyrotechnics, thousands of people, and no plane in sight.
For more on the 4th of July in the Bay Area and around the country, visit this page.
