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.
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