Metro Section
Orange County Perspective
What Really Matters About Airports?
Safety
Before noise, before politics comes this fact: El Toro and John Wayne are
just plain dangerous.
By DONALD R. SEGNER
Newer, larger, high-performance aircraft and ever-growing aviation demand
mean that airports
must adapt to safely handle the new class of aircraft. A simple
definition of a
modern airport is: It must be safe, efficient and environmentally
compatible.
The recent passage of Measure F, which would require approval of an airport
by
two-thirds of voters,
puts El Toro's future in question. However, even if the airport
were to be constructed
as currently planned, we would still end up with a very poor
one. Because of
the configuration of the airport, there are decisions being made that
will compromise
the very concept of an international facility.
The five airports that, according to pilots, have the lowest level of safety
in the
United States are
(not in order) La Guardia Airport in New York, Reagan National
Airport in Washington,
D.C., Lindbergh Field in San Diego, San Francisco Airport
and our own John
Wayne Airport. Except at San Diego, the major problems are
crossing runways
or parallel runways that are too close together or both.
These conditions create the risk of "runway incursion," which the Federal
Aviation Administration
says is the top U.S. safety risk. Close parallel runways often
create wake turbulence
from arriving and departing large aircraft. John Wayne's
safety issues stem
from its two very close, parallel runways.
Since John Wayne Airport's recent expansion, there have been three aircraft
accidents and 11
fatalities involving wake turbulence. Plans for El Toro call for
runways just as
close together as John Wayne's. In addition, the county is keeping
the crossed runways
left over from the World War II design.
Is this doing it right? We have to believe the county planners are aware
of the
problems with closely
spaced and crossed runways, so we ask, why are we
building in these
same design errors at El Toro?
The federal Sonic Boom and Noise Act requires that any changes for noise
abatement reasons
must only be made with the highest degree of safety. This is
ignored in the
current procedures as proposed at El Toro. County planners also
ignore the reports
of various agencies and experts' reports on flying near mountains,
wake turbulence,
runway separation, airport efficiency and taxiing and crossing on
runways.
The terrain, wind and slope issues at El Toro will mean the airport is
much less
efficient for the
airlines, because planes can't take off with full payloads, restricting
aircraft range
in order to meet the minimum FAA safety takeoff standards.
In addition, because of the mountainous terrain along the proposed takeoff
and
departure paths,
the cushion of altitude over the ground is reduced as the plane
climbs. In case
of an emergency, there will be little room for error. These
conditions do not
exist at modern airports, especially international airports that host
the largest and
heaviest aircraft.
The proposed departure routes indicate a serious problem that cannot be
minimized. Departing
traffic on Runway 34 calls for turns into the current incoming
traffic routes
to John Wayne, Long Beach, Los Angeles and Ontario airports. The
general aviation
corridor is also in that area. This sets the stage for another
Cerritos-style
midair collision, something county planners have ignored.
Safety should not be an issue for debate. The passengers, their families
and the
community expect
and have the right to the highest levels of safety possible. Politics
for whatever reason
and economic gain, however important, must take a back seat.
Those of us who have held senior positions in aviation have had to make
those
kinds of decisions.
After you have investigated aircraft accidents as I have, it is very
evident what a
bad decision can lead to. Poor airport design can have tragic results.
The burden of the
wrong decision is heavy and must be taken very seriously by
those in leadership
positions that put their "aye" on that decision line.
Is there an answer for Orange County that increases the safety of John
Wayne
and El Toro? Emphatically,
yes.
There were more than 418,000 flight operations at John Wayne in 1998. The
majority of those
were business and general aviation aircraft.
So first, discontinue the pursuit of El Toro as a commercial airport, and
second,
take a small portion
of the El Toro land and convert it to a much smaller reliever
airport where general
aircraft can be sent to avoid conflict with larger commercial
aircraft and provide
a margin of safety.
Shorten two of the existing runways to 3,500 feet. Move the general and
the
smaller business
and aviation aircraft from John Wayne to El Toro, where they can
operate with increased
safety and not interfere with commercial airline operations.
Air traffic will not be an issue with the small aircraft, nor will the
noise. The
facility will take
up only a small portion of the 4,700 acres and allow the remainder
of the land to
be used as deemed best for the public. It will enhance the safety at
John Wayne and
save billions of dollars in expenditures on an El Toro airport, which
has a poor design
that will not meet today's current standards and future needs.
John Wayne Airport is still a viable airport and can be made even safer
by
moving the smaller
general aviation and business aircraft to the "air park" at El Toro.
It will be a significant
start.
- - -
Donald R. Segner is a Former Associate Administrator of the Federal
Aviation Administration who lives in Laguna Beach.