Originally Posted by
Sport_Pilot
Hard surface does not mean there is an airport operator there to get permission from. Those are purple on the chart, I believe that still means there is not control tower. It does not say if it is active or not. So are they airports he would have informed permission from, and any chance he did or is part of a club that had a standing agreement with? Still I do not believe this negates the 400 foot rule, unless those are private one use airports with hardly any use. And not sure if that is a reason for or against. Just something that is out there not hammered down.
You are correct, they are not towered however they are both open to the public and have combined average operations of 75+ per week about equally divided. The airport manager's contact information for both are in the directory as well as airport and Seattle APP/DEP communication frequencies;
http://www.airnav.com/airport/S44
http://www.airnav.com/airport/3B8
The nearest AMA club field is approximately 11 miles south and I'm willing to bet he did not call anyone including the towered JB Lewis-McChord (TCM) five miles away.
By the way did anyone happen to notice a spotter?
Frank