AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION
635 HERNDON PARKWAY - PO BOX 1168 - HERNDON, VA 20170 - 703-689-2270
FAX 703-689-4370
Dear Mr. Withycombe:
As the regional pilot-safety-representative assigned by the Air Line Pilots Association to oversee airline safety issues in Southern California, I am writing about the vague and questionable ground rules and procedures set forth by the County of Orange for the imminent (June 4-5) flight demonstration at El Toro Marine Air Base. As you know, a substantial mix of large, jet transport aircraft, which are assigned to FAR 121 certificate holders, are to participate in the demonstration.
From information we have been able to obtain no FAA expertise or oversight of this low-level flight demonstration has been accomplished. ALPA believes that the FAA has an absolute duty to set the safety and regulatory parameters under which the contracted Part 121 carriers will be permitted to operate at this difficult, non-FAA-certified, terrain-laden airport.
As you probably know, air carrier terminal flight operations are generally conducted under instrument flight rules (IFR) because of stringent requirements under standard operations specifications issued under the auspices of FAA-Washington (AFS-200, Air Transportation Division). The historical precedence for operations specifications is to hold the operation of transport aircraft to the safest possible standard, both for passenger safety, protection of flight crews and freight, and to protect the public underlying flight paths from the risk of controlled flight into terrain or buildings because of slipshod operations.
ALPA believes that the participating carriers are engaging in Part 121 revenue operations because they are being paid a profitable fee for use of their aircraft in the demonstration. In our view, this triggers all aspects of FAR 121 requirements, and related operations specifications. Because El Toro would someday obviously become a special airport under Part 139, we question whether crews can participate in the demonstration without extensive airport/terrain qualifications. Further, it seems the runways and facilities need to be in Part 139 compliance. All of this would seem to require, at the least, a waiver of standards with a documented equivalent level of safety over both your's and FAA-Washington's signatures.
As you also probably know, there are presently no terminal instrument flight approach or departure procedures approved for use by civil aircraft under the requirements of FAR 91.175(a), which requires the use of instrument approach procedures issued by the FAA under FAR 97. Further, operations specifications prevent use of instrument departure procedures unless they have been accepted into the carrier's flight operations manual by the FAA's assigned principal operations inspector (POI). Any wavier to these requirements would require a specific authorization from the Administrator, except perhaps for visual approaches conducted from at, or above, SoCal's minimum radar vectoring altitudes.
Our conversations with the staff of your region's pilot-operatons expert, Mr. David C. Gilliom, Division Manager, Flight Standards Division, indicate that division desires to restrict all El Toro flight demonstrations to daytime, visual flight rules (VFR) conditions, with a ceiling and visibility minimum of 5,000 feet, and 5 statute miles flight visibility. Further, departures straight out from Runway 34 over Loma Ridge is proposed by your staff to be prohibited, because it could place large transport aircraft operating VFR right in the face of one of the world's busiest general aviation flight corridors over the Riverside (91) freeway in the confined Santa Ana Canyon, with a resultant great mid-air collision potential.
The United States Marine Corps has never approved instrument departure flight tracks straight-out from Runway 34 over Loma Ridge. Their instrument departure procedure for that runway specifies a left turn to avoid overflight of this hazardous terrain mass. In 1965, a military version of a Boeing 707 failed to make this turn, flew directly to Loma Ridge, crashing and killing over 80 passengers and crew, and destroying the aircraft. Only the FAA can determine whether such a straight-out departure is safe with today's class of transport aircraft, and that determination would require an extensive analysis and review by FAA experts.
It is our understanding that military ATC personnel have agreed to staff the El Toro tower for this flight demonstration. Because they will be controlling FAA certificate-holder aircraft exclusively we believe the FAA must ensure that these personnel meet FAA safety-employment drug and alcohol testing requirements. The FAA must further assure that weather observations taken throughout the demonstration meet FAA standards.
Further, ALPA requests that our observers be permitted to be in the El Toro control tower throughout the tests, and provided with the ability to monitor voice communications between the tower, SoCal Approach Control, and participating certificate holder aircraft. We have made this request to the County of Orange, but have not received a reply.
We would be particularly concerned about seeing compliance with the prohibition against any instrument flight rule clearances below the minimum radar vectoring altitudes for SoCal (Coast) Approach Control. We would also be observing compliance with FAA mandated weather minimums, which we presume will be the 5,000-foot ceiling and five miles visibility desired by your Flight Standards Division's expert pilot-operations staff. We would also be observing compliance with no departure over Loma Ridge into the extremely congested Riverside Freeway/Santa Ana Canyon VFR flyway.
We hope we will receive an immediate (by fax today), detailed response from you setting forth to the certificate holders and to the County of Orange all the rational ground rules set forth internally by your Flight Standards Division's FAA pilot experts, and to which you also distribute to the local media. Also, because of the critical time-frame and intense public interest and confusion about this matter, we have provided the local print media with a copy of this letter.
Very truly yours,
Captain Jon Russell, Chairman
Western Pacific-South Safety Committee
Original by FedEx Overnight, Waybill 803478513390
Copy by fax
Cc (by fax): Courtney Weircioch, (County of Orange)
Board of Supervisors, (County of Orange)
Los Angeles Times--Orange County
Orange County Register
|
|
|