Fear and fury in idyllic mountain town as wealthy Top Gun wannabes clash with locals as death toll climbs

A small Midwestern town has become the unlikely location for a civil war involving military-grade aircraft and a rising death toll.

Nestled between the shores of Idaho’s Palisades Reservoir and the snow-capped mountains of the Wyoming Range, the idyllic town of Alpine is home to just over 1,000 residents.

But the vast greenery of the surrounding Grand Teton National Park belies a fiery battle between locals and wealthy airplane enthusiasts who are disrupting the peace – while reportedly endangering lives.

Alpine is home to a 6,000-foot airstrip that straddles the Wyoming-Idaho border, which is increasingly luring wealthy Top Gun wannabes to the area.

Locals say the growth of air traffic has gone out of control, causing constant noise in the city and fatal accidents as people crash.

Longtime Alpine resident Jay Goodrich described the questionable flying practices and plane flights as “a circus” in the skies above his otherwise idyllic hometown.

“As a private pilot, looking at the things they do at the airport, I can’t believe the FAA isn’t there,” he said. Jackson Hole News and Guide.

“It is extreme wealth against the common man,” he added. “Do we really need fighter jets taking off in rural Wyoming so they can practice? As a pilot you want to stay sharp.

“When I flew, I flew every day of the week, but I didn’t fly a fighter jet. Do we need fighter jets in Alpine, Wyoming, reporting to no one?”

Goodrich said the fly-in residential park was designed to house single-engine aircraft flown by experienced pilots, but is now littered with military-grade aircraft and private jets.

“We’ve been here for three years and we were very aware of the runway,” Matt Grant, who lives in Alpine Meadows next to the Airpark, told News and Guide.

“I didn’t know that during our first 4th of July the house would start shaking. It sounded like a ‘Top Gun’ movie.

“We have rules in our neighborhood that come from the Forest Service that say we can’t put up fences because of wildlife.

“I’m sure the Forest Service didn’t intend to fly fighter jets over there. It sounds like an episode of MASH down there.”

Alpine residents say recent crashes, such as a fatal collision on July 4 this year, are the result of unfettered air traffic by hobbyists.

A Game Composites GB1 Gamebird aircraft, described like a “race car for the skies,” plunged into the Palisades Reservoir on Independence Day, killing pilot Edan Shalev.

Kevin Nettleton, who witnessed the horror crash and raced in his boat to the crashed plane in search of survivors, said the scene looked like something out of “Mad Max.”

But he said recovery efforts were hampered by a Black Hawk helicopter that landed nearby to help them but ended up buzzing through strong winds that sprayed water in all directions.

‘I know he tried to help, but it was hell. I’m still shocked about it,” Nettleton told Jackson Hole News and Guide. “He came out of nowhere.”

Several other accidents have been documented in the area, including a horrific incident that killed parents David and Jessica Anderson, leaving their children orphaned.

The couple died in the Cessna crash that also killed Thomas and Heidi Summers in March 2016, according to East Idaho News. several more similar fatal incidents around the same time.

Residents are also concerned about constantly inhaling jet fuel, which has contaminated the air with a pungent odor and potentially caused contamination of the Palisades Reservoir.

The runway can be used by the public, but Alpine Airpark’s board of directors decides who can fly in and out of the private development.

Residents have written a letter of complaint to the airport board, citing their own guidelines, and to Alpine Mayor Eric Green.

Airpark Chairman Raj Narayanan said accidents such as the July 4 crash do not fall within the airpark’s jurisdiction.

“One of the things we can do as an air park is to be proactive and establish procedures, policies and guidelines for members who fly into the air park or live in the air park,” Narayanan told News and Guide.

“We have highly formalized, established procedures and guidelines for air park members, and we ask that all members communicate these to their guests to ensure they are aware of the standard departure corridors, arrival corridors and performance mitigation requirements we have in place. established to try to be kind and courteous to all of our residents within the community at large.”

“What I would say is that the airport is certainly part of the Alpine ecosystem, but not in the city of Alpine,” Mayor Green told News and Guide.

“As mayor and city council, we have very little jurisdiction over what happens at the airport.

“Part of the problem is that there are a few people who don’t follow the rules, and that’s causing the consternation.”