Runway closure required aircraft to land on runway with crosswind.

Attributes
ACN	321743
Time
Date	199511
Day	Sat
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : acy
State Reference	NJ
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	other
Make Model Name	Fighting Falcon F16
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	climbout : takeoff
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : flight data
Qualification	controller : radar
Experience	controller radar : 4
ASRS Report	321743
Person 2
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	oversight : airport manager
Qualification	other other : other
Events
Anomaly	other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other controllera
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

I believe the airport operator at acy, who is the FAA, caused a potential disaster by denying numerous arrival aircraft the long runway (runway 13/31, 10000 ft) on a day with a strong crosswind (270 degrees, 10 KTS gusting to 20 KTS), while at the same time allowing 4 F16's based at acy to depart that same runway 13/31. Airport operations closed runway 13/31 for 'mowing.' they opened it verbally for the 4 F16's departure but did not allow 3 arrs to use it. Their reasoning was the runway was closed for everyone 'except our F16's.' how can you close a runway for some aircraft and not others.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: RWY CLOSURE REQUIRED ACFT TO LAND ON RWY WITH XWIND.

Narrative: I BELIEVE THE ARPT OPERATOR AT ACY, WHO IS THE FAA, CAUSED A POTENTIAL DISASTER BY DENYING NUMEROUS ARR ACFT THE LONG RWY (RWY 13/31, 10000 FT) ON A DAY WITH A STRONG XWIND (270 DEGS, 10 KTS GUSTING TO 20 KTS), WHILE AT THE SAME TIME ALLOWING 4 F16'S BASED AT ACY TO DEPART THAT SAME RWY 13/31. ARPT OPS CLOSED RWY 13/31 FOR 'MOWING.' THEY OPENED IT VERBALLY FOR THE 4 F16'S DEP BUT DID NOT ALLOW 3 ARRS TO USE IT. THEIR REASONING WAS THE RWY WAS CLOSED FOR EVERYONE 'EXCEPT OUR F16'S.' HOW CAN YOU CLOSE A RWY FOR SOME ACFT AND NOT OTHERS.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.