Pilot Bob Walsh Responds To Airport's Lawsuit Against Him

Bob Walsh, a pilot who was previously banned from the Nantucket Memorial Airport for dangerous and reckless behavior, responded to comment Wednesday morning regarding the airport commission’s complaint against him in Nantucket Superior Court.

Walsh argues that the airport is operating outside of its jurisdiction with their attempts to ban him from the airport. He denied many of the allegations in the complaint filed against him and said he is looking forward to having his day in court. Walsh said he will be in Nantucket District Court March 14, where he will face two trespassing charges against him.

“(The airport) does not have the jurisdiction to do what they are doing,” Walsh told the Current. “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 (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, but I will finally get my day in court on March 14.”

Walsh also denied hiding behind a Suburban when he saw assistant airport manager Noah Karberg on December 5 while walking through the FBO building, 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. “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.”

Walsh forwarded a Part 13 FAA document to the Current, which he argued is evidence that the airport and FAA cannot ban him from using the airport. Jorge Panteli, a compliance and land use specialist, authored the document, suggesting sometime in 2021 that the airport must make themselves available to Walsh because while the FAA took away Walsh’s charter certificate, they have not yet taken away his pilot license nor the aircraft he flies.

But airport officials responded saying the document serves as merely a suggestion, not an order or demand. They said since that time, the FAA has deemed Walsh flying in and out of the airport as a local security threat.

Walsh admitted he is aware the airport and FAA do not want him using the island’s airport at this time during his conversation with the Current, but continued to point to this document again as evidence that it does not matter, He says not wanting someone to fly in and out of an airport does not give the airport and FAA grounds to take away his right to continue utilizing the airport. He said while the FAA’s stance has changed on whether they want him using Nantucket’s airport, the law hasn’t. It is unclear when this document was crafted.

Airport officials added that an airport manager, through the airport commission, has the right to take any and all actions necessary to ensure safe operation of an airfield thanks to Chapter 90, Section 51E of the Massachusetts Airport Act.

Bill Ferrall, a former island resident for decades, read the our report Wednesday detailing the allegations against Walsh. He reached out to the Current to express that while he isn’t ready to doubt the facts of what has transpired with Walsh over these past couple of years, he wants people to understand the other side of Walsh.

“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.”