I was saddened yesterday to learn that Chicago Mayor Richard Daley unilaterally demolished Meigs Field. For those unfamiliar with Meigs, it was a general aviation airport on a man-made island next to Chicago on Lake Michigan. It was located adjacent to the Adler planetarium.

Back in November, I had the opportunity to fly to Meigs with my friend Eric. Meigs was a neat airport, one of the oldest, most famous, general aviation airports in the country. In many (all?) versions of Microsoft Flight simulator, Meigs is the default airport. Now it lies in ruins.

This is a photo looking out the back of a Cessna 182 at Meigs just after taking off. Compare that photo with the ones in an this article. Note the large swaths of runway that were pulverized by bulldozers.

How could this happen? It is well-known that Mayor Daley has wanted to shutter Meigs for some time now. However, public opinion, and indeed logic itself, was strongly opposed to any such closure. Not getting his way, Daley decided to take matters into his own hands. At 1:30 a.m. on March 30, he ordered bulldozers escorted by police to enter Meigs and demolish the runway. When asked later why he did the act in the wee hours of the morning, his answer alluded to the fact that a covert destruction would sidestep any possible court challenge. He didn’t notify the FAA (thus violating FAR part 157), nor did he give the planes parked at Meigs a chance to leave. Truly a shameful, cowardly act. But it gets worse.

How did he justify his actions? Daley claimed that the airport was closed for “homeland security reasons.” Bullshit. The mere thought Meigs is in any way a threat to national security is audacious. First of all, there was a lot of security at Meigs. Second, small planes can take off from anywhere in the region and reach the Chicago area. Third, why would anybody even use a small plane from Meigs as a weapon — a skyscraper wouldn’t even feel a Cessna. Fourth, even if Meigs were somehow a security concern, why tear up the runway? Why not simply place concrete barriers on the runway?

Advancing personal and political agendas in the name of “homeland security” is a slippery slope. Now, more than ever, I think we might be on our way towards an Orwellian state: The rationalization of the irrational in the name of security, the deep invasion of personal privacy — even the naming of food. Anybody notice a similarity between 1984’s Victory Gin and the US Congress’ Freedom Fries?

In closing, I quote Benjamin Franklin: