Comparison of Safety Margins at Southland Airports

There are many stories about traffic problems at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, and always people think of autos, the small terminal and the lack of gate space for the jets. All of it is so true, but happily those are inconveniences, not tragedies.

Tragedy is a jet that burned in front of the tower two years ago. It was an accident that probably happened because of lack of runway space. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt.

For some of us who are pros in the aviation field, the Orange County Airport is more than a nuisance that is tough to beat when you are trying to use the jets in or out of John Wayne. Rather, it is a reduction of your safety margin when you compare the facilities with, for instance, Los Angeles International, Ontario or Long Beach.

During the last 10 years, I spent some time studying records furnished through the Federal Aviation Administration. Considering total landings and takeoffs each year, John Wayne is the busiest Airport anywhere with only one usable runway available to jets, and that runway is only 5,700 feet long. That, in all fairness, is plenty long for the equipment usually operated, but there is not much room for error.

Long Beach is next busiest. The reason for this, as in the case of John Wayne, is the volume of light aircraft is very heavy. However, long Beach has a 10,000-foot runway as well as four others in the 5,000-foot-plus class that can serve in an emergency.

Los Angeles International Airport runs ahead of Ontario. Los Angeles International, with its facilities and four runways of 10,000 feet plus makes it one of the safest airports in the country. Ontario, for its size, boasts of long runways and light traffic.

When I travel, I usually choose Los Angeles International. Once in a while, with the pickup in service in recent years, I use Long Beach or Ontario.

People ask me why I don’t come into Orange County. Usually I tell them the price of a ticket is generally less that at John Wayne. However, if I know them well, I’ll explain. Free insurance! I figure I have five times as many good chances of getting on the ground in good health as I do at Orange County. JOHN BAKER Corona del Mar