FAA to Scrutinize Building Heights in Airport Vicinity

The Federal Aviation Administration, charging that high-rise buildings around John Wayne Airport have made parts of the airport’s radio navigation system unusable, has launched a review of all new construction.

The problem became so serious earlier this year that the FAA imposed a three-month freeze on construction applications, which only recently was lifted, officials said Thursday.

“Right now, the FAA has determined through flight checks that the facility has been derogated by construction of buildings in the area,” said Ellie Stanson, of the FAA’s air space and procedures branch, in Los Angeles. “We’re working on a staff study to determine what options are available for a long-term resolution of the problem.”

Federal officials have traced part of the radio interference to three high-rise office buildings on MacArthur Boulevard in Santa Ana. They apparently were built without FAA review--a violation of federal law that could subject the developers to civil or criminal penalties, Stanson said.

Those buildings seem to be only part of the problem, however. The boom in high-rise construction on all sides of the airport in the past several years is beginning to have an effect on flight operations, airport officials said.

“Obviously, the land owners have their desires and their goals, and we have our mission, which is to protect this airport,” said Stephen Kozak Jr. of the airport staff, which requested the FAA investigation.

While high-rise buildings have been planned carefully to remain clear of flight paths around the airport, it is much more difficult to predict their effect on radio navigation systems.

Pilots trying to locate the airport or approach it on instruments often rely on a white, cone-shaped radio transmitter known as a VOR (very high frequency omnidirectional range), which transmits signals that can be picked up in the cockpit.

Because tall buildings have begun to interfere with those signals, aircraft approaching from some directions can no longer receive them. Already, certain approach routes from north of the airport and over Upper Newport Bay have been affected, as well as approaches to airports at Fullerton, El Toro and Los Alamitos. The problem will grow worse unless it is corrected, FAA officials said.

FAA officials halted processing of all building applications for sites around John Wayne during a recent three-month period while they conducted tests to determine the extent of radio interference. Now, the FAA is processing perhaps 50 proposals for new high-rise buildings, but the agency is reviewing them as a package, trying to determine their ultimate effects on navigation, Stanson said.

The airport’s planned new 3-million-square-foot terminal also could hinder VOR operations, and the agency is reviewing that idea now.

A recent study commissioned by airport-area developers found that the proposed terminal is “an extreme area of concern” for airport navigation. “It has been stated emphatically by FAA engineering personnel that the new passenger terminal will totally destroy the usefulness of the VOR at its present site,” the report said.

The developers’ study--sponsored by firms such as the Irvine Co., Koll Co., C. J. Segerstrom and Sons, Prudential Insurance and Transpacific Development--identified a number of options, including moving the VOR transmitter or installing another kind of radio navigation system.

But Kozak said the FAA has “made it unequivocally clear” that it will protect the integrity of the VOR in its current location near the end of one runway, even if that means rejecting some building proposals.

“It’s not that easy to move,” he said of suggestions that the VOR be relocated. “Even if the land were available, it would cost a small fortune, and there are other reasons in addition to land costs. The VOR was placed there for important reasons.”

Alternatives Considered

Stanson said the agency will consider all the options identified by the builders, but FAA officials are not yet ready to say whether any of them are workable.

The agency has asked its legal counsel to review the three Santa Ana high-rises near the Costa Mesa Freeway that were built without FAA review, Stanson said.

The agency has no official authority to approve or disapprove building projects, but developers are required by law to notify the FAA of any building plan that might affect airport operations. The agency then determines whether the building would present a hazard to aviation, and cities and counties responsible for approving building plans usually follow the FAA’s recommendations, Stanson said.

In the case of the three Santa Ana buildings--two Butterfield Savings buildings and a Hutton Center office tower, each about 10 stories--city officials until recently were unaware that there was a potential conflict with the airport, according to Phil Freeman, community development director.

“It was just a matter of oversight, in terms of not being aware of what the requirements were,” Freeman said. “We intend to certainly cooperate with the FAA in helping them solve the problem, and hopefully being able to continue our development in that area.”

Two additional 12-story buildings are planned for the Hutton Center property, and the city envisions “major high-rise development” on the Sakioka property to the north, Freeman said.

Irvine Building Plans

Irvine city planner Susan Lindquist said the city already has approved about 10 new office towers of up to 18 stories each for the airport area, and another 15 new buildings are on hold. None will be built unless the FAA approves it, she said.

Two 12-story towers proposed by the Koll Co. for its Irvine Center North already have run into problems. The FAA told the company earlier this month that a preliminary study of that plan “indicates there may be an interference problem with FAA air navigation equipment.”

Construction within the past two years has been moving closer to the airport, buildings are higher than ever, and are made of reflective materials that can cause problems, airport officials say.

“This area is unique, because there is so much major development--suddenly, a lot of high rise buildings, and all within a radius of one to two miles of the airport,” Stanson said. “We have a heavy concentration of construction near what is considered a major airport, and we don’t have many other situations like that in this region.”

There is no similar problem around Los Angeles International, despite the number of tall buildings there, because of the protected location of its radio transmitter, she said.