Judge Permanently Bans Pilot From Nantucket Airport
David Creed •
Bob Walsh, an island homeowner and longtime pilot, has been permanently banned from flying in and out of Nantucket Memorial Airport following a ruling by Nantucket Superior Court Judge Maureen Hogan last Thursday. The ruling brought an end to a multi-year dispute between Walsh and the airport, which accused Walsh of “unauthorized activity” and repeatedly violating criminal trespass orders.
“A permanent injunction shall issue prohibiting the defendant, Robert T. Walsh, from piloting aircraft to or from the (Nantucket) Airport or accessing the Aircraft Operations Area or any other non-public area of the Airport except as a passenger enplaning or deplaning a commercial aircraft,” the judgment by Hogan reads.
While the feud dates back years, the decision by Hogan came following a lawsuit filed by the Nantucket Airport Commission in February 2022, in which it accused Walsh of “dangerous escalation” that it said endangered travelers utilizing the airport and “diverted airport resources and personnel away from other pressing matters.”
“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.”
From the beginning of the dispute, Walsh had argued that the airport is operating outside of its jurisdiction with its attempts to ban him from the airfield. He denied many of the allegations in the complaint filed against him, which included him landing his aircraft at Nantucket Memorial Airport at least 24 times in the summer of 2021 without permission, taxiing across a grass island on the airfield, and urinating on the airfield in front of three airport employees and dumping a full urinal on airfield grass.
“(The airport) does not have the jurisdiction to do what they are doing,” Walsh told the Current in 2022. “They are doing stuff outside their jurisdiction. Use of the credentials, the abandoning of the airplane, going to the ramp and picking someone up, peeing in front of three employees, it is all bullshit. This guy (former Nantucket airport manager Tom Rafter), I’ll tell ya, he is an old-time airport manager. He has been there for years, and he knows how to harass.”
On Friday, Walsh responded to the Current's request for comment, saying that he plans to appeal the decision by the court, claiming that the airport is lying about him, and that the judge's decision will not stop him from flying everywhere else aside from Nantucket for the time being.
"It's tough working pro se against a corrupt lawyer who is willing to falsify the administrative record and mislead the court regarding federal and state laws governing my right to access the Nantucket Airport," Walsh said. "And who continuously has his client lie under oath, and that's (Noah) Karberg (former airport manager). He's the one that has continuously lied under oath. What Karberg and the Boston FAA inspector Sean O'Connor have been doing is criminal, and I'm going to pursue their actions in criminal court. None of this affects my ability to fly an airplane legally, nor have my licenses, my medical, or my airport badge ever been revoked. I will appeal this ruling, and I will pursue this in criminal court.
"The last two airport managers were just lying and trying to keep me from flying," Walsh continued. "Unsuccessfully, too. I've been flying for the past three years, and the FAA knows I've been flying for the past three years," Walsh said. "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."
Karberg, who moved off-island earlier this year after stepping down as airport manager, declined to comment when asked Friday afternoon - deferring any comment on the situation to the airport.
According to the airport commission, it was on July 2, 2019, when Walsh was barred from utilizing the airport’s services. On February 9, 2021, the Nantucket Airport Commission allowed him to operate as a transient pilot under strict conditions. This was the beginning of a slew of alleged violations committed by Walsh.
The airport sent Walsh a letter each time he violated the access restrictions in place from April 2021 through August 2021. The airport continued to update the Federal Aviation Administration on the matter, prompting the FAA to tell the airport this was now a local safety and security issue.
On July 14, 2021, the airport says Walsh’s actions escalated. Instead of contacting airport operations when he landed, he taxied across a grass island and into a parking position adjacent to the FBO without any supervision.
Walsh continued to ignore the airport through August. On August 10, 2021, Walsh taxied across a grass island to an unassigned parking space and nearly hit the wingtip of an adjacent aircraft.
A full ban of Walsh from the airport was reinstituted on August 25, 2021, and the police department issued a no trespassing notice to Walsh when he landed at the airport on August 28.
Walsh calmed down for a few months before getting back into his old ways, flying into the airport on Friday, December 3rd, 2021 to enjoy Christmas Stroll. His passengers included his fourth attorney, Donald Papcsy, and Papcsy’s family. In an email to the Current in June, Walsh said he has had seven attorneys throughout his court feud with the airport. He said his daughter, who earned her Juris Doctor in Denver recently, has been advising him.
Walsh proceeded to taxi his aircraft adjacent to a private hangar, unguided, and only left an estimated 15’ of wingtip clearance between his plane and the building. The FAA minimum is 45’ to ensure enough space for emergency vehicles.
Walsh’s stay wasn’t for long. He was walking through the airport FBO two days later on December 5th, 2021 with an empty luggage cart when the assistant airport manager at the time, Noah Karberg, saw him. Once Walsh saw Karberg, he allegedly proceeded to leave the FBO and hide behind a rental suburban parked in the airport parking lot. When asked by the Current if this was true, Walsh denied he was hiding in fear of getting caught but admitted he did what he could to steer clear of interacting with him.
“I did not want to see Karberg. He is a very strange individual,” Walsh said at the time. “He just doesn’t comprehend anything. Look, here is what happened. I had a baggage cart, and I came to the airport to leave the airport. I was outside with my lawyer to handle the police because we knew it was coming. The girl at the gate didn’t get the memo from the airport about me and said to me ‘are you all set sir’ and I replied, ‘why yes I am’ and went to my airplane.”
The lawsuit confirmed that an hour later Walsh emerged from his hiding spot and entered the airfield through Gate 36 after he was mistakenly allowed through by a gate attendant who was unfamiliar with who he was. When airport personnel realized who they were dealing with, they called the police to assist with escorting him away.
The police spoke to Papcsy at the scene, who told police he was Walsh’s attorney. It was learned later on that Papcsy was not admitted to practice law in Massachusetts. Walsh was permitted to fly out of the airport after Papcsy falsely claimed to police that a January 2021 document from the FAA determined Walsh could not be banned from utilizing the airport. Police told the airport to alert them if Walsh ever returned.
On January 31st, 2022, Walsh flew into the airport using an aircraft owned by a different pilot and did not radio to airport operations for parking. Walsh eventually had no choice but to reveal his true identity and radio into the FBO to request assistance because the aircraft he was flying had a flat tire.
Walsh left the airport that afternoon and the flat tire was fixed the next day, February 1. Walsh arrived at the airport on Feb. 1, tried and failed to access the general aviation ramp, and proceeded to the FBO building where he was met by the airport’s law enforcement officer on duty.
The officer informed Walsh he wasn’t allowed to access his aircraft, to which Walsh allegedly escalated the situation to a point where another local police officer and a state police officer were called to the scene. He eventually was issued two criminal charges of trespassing in Nantucket District Court, but those charges were resolved.
The story of Bob Walsh and his history with the airport goes back over a decade. He operated an air charter service called Nantucket Express from 2005 through 2019. He had airport credentials while operating this service as part of his agreement with the airport.
Walsh was involved in multiple safety and security incidents at the airport in 2018 and 2019. He eventually had his air carrier certificate revoked by the FAA in January of 2020 for Nantucket Express.
“Nantucket Express operated in a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of others,” the FAA said when issuing the notice of revocation.
In August of 2018, Walsh experienced a flat tire while landing at the airport, left the aircraft on the runway, and departed the airport with another aircraft. He left behind the disabled aircraft, an airplane seat on the taxiway, and a passenger in the aircraft. Walsh was issued a verbal warning after this incident.
In 2019 it was determined following an investigation by the Flight Standards Service Department of the Federal Aviation Administration that on March 24, 2018, an individual with a federal criminal record involving trafficking drugs by aircraft used Walsh’s credentials. The airport proceeded to revoke Walsh’s airport access badge and not renew their agreement with Walsh following this investigation.
When the lawsuit was filed and initially reported on, Bill Ferrall, a former island resident for decades, read the report and reached out to the Current to express that while he doesn't doubt the facts of what transpired with Walsh in recent years, he wanted people to understand the other side of Walsh - a person who has helped many island residents over the years.
“In the 1990s, Bob was a go-to guy for many people in crisis,” Ferrall said. “He would get a sick person off-island, or others with an urgent need when many pilots would not. Sometimes without charging them.”
“I’ve known Bob Walsh as a friend, a businessman, a pilot, and a great volunteer. He often worked outside of the norms. He is a street kid from Dorchester who does things his way to survive. He and his family were longtime stalwarts among island business owners and nonprofit leaders, with their kids in the public schools and graduating from Nantucket High School.”