FAA action fuels calls for second airport

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- Proponents of a second Orange County airfield are

pointing to the Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to install a

new ground radar system at John Wayne Airport as evidence that the

current airport is unsafe and overworked.

“I think it’s common sense that in that 500-acre facility, the number of

takeoffs and landings is crowded and overdone,” said Bruce Nestande,

president of the El Toro advocacy group Citizens for Jobs in the Economy.

“All the more reason we feel so strongly about El Toro.”

At a national meeting on improving runway safety, the FAA announced

Monday that 25 medium-sized airports would receive new ground radar

systems in order to reduce runway collisions.

The new radar would help controllers at John Wayne scan runways and

taxiways as opposed to using binoculars and relaying observations to

pilots.

The move could prove instrumental for John Wayne, which had the

second-highest rate of near-accidents last year, with nine close calls on

its runways.

“John Wayne was one of the most dangerous airports in the U.S. and

outside of Chicago has the most operations,” said airport activist and

former mayor Tom Edwards.

Many of the near-misses involved private planes rather than commercial

airliners. However, some locals who support the conversion of the former

El Toro Marine Corps air base into an commercial airport say it means

John Wayne is overcrowded and needs relief.

“Naturally, when you have an airport that has a lot of activity, the

probability of occurrences increases,” said Tom Naughton, president of

the Newport Beach-based Airport Working Group, which has been fighting

expansion at John Wayne.

Edwards added that the FAA’s move also shows that John Wayne should not

be expanded.

However, some anti-El Toro activists balk at the suggestion that a

crowded runway implies that a new airport is necessary.

“Replacing a bad airport with an even worse airport is not the answer,”

said Meg Waters, spokeswoman for a coalition of South County cities.