FAA Orders No Low-Flying Air Traffic Over Coachella Fest & Stagecoach

Music fans aren’t the only ones asking for clear skies during both the Coachella Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio next month.

The Federal Aviation Administration has asked aircraft to stay away from the Empire Polo Club during the concerts.

A promotional stunt during the presidential campaign four years ago is where this story starts, when a low-flying plane dumped thousands of leaflets all over concert-goers and the surrounding neighborhoods.

The stunt scared people in the area, police said.

“A big deal — it wasn’t,” said Elias Infante, a longtime resident. “It was taken care of.”

Sure, Infante spent some time, like the rest of his neighbors did, plucking the Obama leaflets out of their bushes and lawns, but Infante said that’s expected when Coachella and the Stagecoach Country Music Festival roll into town.

Still, the police department said most people don’t feel the same way.

Just look back four years ago, when an airplane flew 350 feet above the almost 100,000 people attending Coachella — scattering all the debris.

Every year since then, authorities have asked the FAA to restrict the air space over the Empire Polo Club during the festivals.

“As long as they stay at their safety zone, the high flying area, which ever that is, I don’t see there’s a problem,” said Infante.

Sentator Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., agrees.

She spoke with the FAA about the problem, after the police chief made it clear he was concerned a similar stunt could happen again.

Now, the FAA has issued three separate notices to airmen, for all three weekends of the festivals.

But the agency is just “recommending” that aircraft not fly below 2,000 feet when within a two-mile radius of the festival grounds.

The FAA’s recommendation is not law.

“It depends on the type of event and this is a temporary event, which doesn’t meet the requirements of restricting flights at all in this location,” said Ben Guitron, of the Indio Police Department.

If pilots don’t follow the recommendation, the Indio Police said they will report the incident to the FAA. The feds would then be in charge of the investigation.

However, the FAA also told Boxer that it will be illegal for any aircraft to drop any sort of items near the crowd during the concerts.