Questions on whether Akron should keep and maintain Fulton Municipal Airport arising again in the wake of the worst air disaster in the history of Summit County.

Akron city council's Bob Hoch represents Ward 6, which covers much of the area around the airport and the Ellet neighborhood. He says he's thankful nobody on the ground was hurt or killed, and his thoughts and prayers went to those aboard the jet, but comments from residents is a fairly routine topic.

"When you live in Ellet, you see and hear air traffic day and night. It becomes commonplace to see and hear these small planes, jets, helicopters and blimps. Normally, you don't react, you don't pay a whole lot of attention to them," Hoch says.

Hoch noted the future of Fulton Airport came up during the most recent mayoral debates.

"All those points have to be scrutinized," Hoch said. "How much is that airport costing the city of Akron and the residents of Akron now, and is it a necessary piece in our community and do we need to keep it there?"

Mayor Jeff Fusco counters Fulton is "...an economic driver, if you will. There's corporate and recreational use and it's heavily looked at by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) on what we can and cannot do. It's regulated heavily by the federal government." He said the airport does "quite a bit" to keep the airport safe.

"there's airports like this all around the country," Fusco said, with operations handled by pilots.

The airport also serves as a refueling center for medical emergency helicopters.