![]()
Nantucket homeowner and longtime pilot, Bob Walsh, was permanently banned on August 7 from flying in and out of the Nantucket Memorial Airport (ACK) following a ruling by Nantucket Superior Court Judge Maureen Hogan.The airport filed a lawsuit against Walsh in Feb. 2022, stating that he has endangered other travelers using the airport and that he diverted resources and personnel away from other important matters. It sent Walsh a letter each time he violated the access restrictions and updated the FAA on the matter.
"Since 2018, Mr. Walsh has flown his personal aircraft in and out of the Airport in an increasingly erratic fashion, violating operational restrictions imposed by the Commission," the commission said in their 2022 lawsuit. "On multiple occasions from December 2021 through February 2022, Mr. Walsh has ignored both a notice of restriction from the Airport Manager (Tom Rafter at the time) and a criminal no trespass notice issued by the Nantucket Police Department and landed his aircraft at the Airport without any advance notice or permission. Mr. Walsh's dangerous escalation must stop."
According to the Nantucket Current, accusations against Walsh include:
In 2018, left a damaged aircraft on the runway, an airplane seat on the taxiway and a passenger in the aircraft
Landing his aircraft at least 24 times in the summer of 2021 without permission
Taxiing across a grass island on the airfield
Urinating on the airfield in front of three airport employees and dumping a full urinal on airfield grass.
Flew into the airport using an aircraft owned by a different pilot and did not radio to airport operations for parking.
Previously, Walsh operated an air charter service called Nantucket Express from 2005 to 2019 and had airport credentials while operating this service. According to the Nantucket Current, he was reportedly involved with multiple safety and security incidents at the airport between 2018 and 2019, resulting in the FAA revoking his air carrier certificate in Jan. 2020.
RELATED STORIES:
Emirates bans use of portable power banks on all flights
AOPA seeks to end seaplane ban in Colorado
Twitter account tracking Elon Musk's jet has been banned
Walsh states that the airport is operating outside of its jurisdiction with its attempts to ban him from the airfield. He told the Nantucket Express that the former airport managers, Tom Rafter and Noah Karberg, were harassing him and accused Karberg of lying under oath. Walsh plans to appeal the decision by the court.
"The last two airport managers were just lying and trying to keep me from flying, unsuccessfully, too. I've been flying for the past three years, and the FAA knows I've been flying for the past three years," said Walsh. "And they have not stopped me, or they have not made me stop flying. I will continue to keep flying, but not into Nantucket Airport because of this one judge, or now it's two judges, that believe their lies."