City had to settle on this settlement agreement

The Daily Pilot’s Dec. 15 editorial “Caps represent best possible

deal” was a little misleading.

You stated officials were justified in raising the annual

passenger allowance from 9.8 million to 10.8 million and the number

of gates from 18 to 20 in an effort to protect us from even more

increases in the future at John Wayne Airport. However, some

unfamiliar with airport issues might not realize the John Wayne

Settlement Agreement that is now in place restricts passengers to 8.4

million a year and 14 gates. That means the new agreement now being

proposed actually allows an increase of 2.4-million passengers and

six new gates, amounting to about a 30% increase, which certainly is

significant considering John Wayne’s close proximity to our homes and

schools.

A rarely discussed, yet extremely important issue regarding any

expansion is that John Wayne is already considered by some to be one

of the more dangerous airports in America. Noise restrictions, due to

a lack of buffer zone and homes within blocks of the runway, require

pilots to reach a specific height in their take-off procedure earlier

than usual and must do so by using a relatively dangerous and

certainly unusual steep incline. The pilot is required to push his

engines into a full throttle, putting an obvious strain upon them.

Keep in mind, John Wayne has one of the shortest runways of any

airport its size, and should the pilot need to suddenly abort the

flight, there simply is no safety margin or buffer zone to do so.

Passengers could find themselves on the Corona del Mar Freeway at

rush hour, and that is a best-case scenario. Pilots flying out of

John Wayne have said it is an accident ready to happen.

John Wayne also has one of the highest rates of planes that

experience tire failure, likely attributable to large aircraft being

forced to land on a very short runway.

The constant and extremely busy mix of large commercial flights

with smaller commuter planes is an added risk due to a condition

called “wake turbulence.” It has been officially listed as the cause

of at least one John Wayne plane crash that resulted in the death of

all on board.

A logical person must conclude John Wayne is a poor candidate for

expansion. However, we have little choice, since we appear to have

lost the battle for an alternative airport at El Toro, which is

particularly frustrating since that property is far superior to John

Wayne (El Toro is 10 times the size of John Wayne, with the longest

of runways and a huge buffer zone surrounding it that excluded homes

and schools).

There is no other viable airport plan to relieve our county’s

growing air transportation needs. So, obviously the airlines and

Federal Aviation Administration are determined to increase the size

and activity at John Wayne, which brings us to the unhappy conclusion

that this new settlement agreement is something our City Council and

community must reluctantly accept, but only if the FAA, airlines and

county guarantee in writing that this increase is absolutely the last

one this community must endure.

If they do not give us that promise, then I say, forget the new

agreement. We can organize and be energized to fight against

expansion, just like South County did in stopping the El Toro

airport. After all, we value our community and quality of life every

bit as much!

BONNIE O’NEIL

Newport Beach

* Bonnie O’Neil is a longtime airport activist.