Pilot Wayne Mourned by His Colleagues

They fly daily in the world’s most crowded skies, dodging other aircraft while keeping millions informed of the congestion on the roads far below them. They love their jobs for the freedom and the fraternity. But on Wednesday, airborne traffic reporters were forced to acknowledge the darker side to their careers.

Bruce Wayne, a friend and father-figure to many of the Southland’s flying reporters, died early Wednesday when his plane crashed after his second broadcast of the morning. Hours later, his colleagues mourned his death and recounted the fears that plague nearly all of them.

To Cmdr. Chuck Street, airborne traffic reporter for KIIS-AM/FM, the daily grind can be nerve-wracking.

“We’re not only listening to the radio station we work for, we’re talking to the air traffic controllers, to staff in our own news rooms,” he said. “We’re monitoring the CHP scanner for accident reports as well as flying the aircraft and watching out for other planes and helicopters in the vicinity--all that in addition to meeting your deadline. It takes a lot out of you.”

Collisions Feared

But the specter of a collision in the air is the greatest burden the “asphalt angel” carries, Street said.

“I know for a fact it was Bruce’s (greatest fear),” Street said. “And stress is the biggest problem. You just try to pay attention as much as you can and avoid the areas that are the busiest.”

Pamela McInness, a flying traffic reporter for radio stations KMPC and KUTE, described Wayne, who worked for radio stations KFI and KOST, as the most professional at his job on the West Coast. “He was totally dedicated to it, and with his 25-year anniversary (as an airborne traffic reporter) coming up I don’t think anyone is going to come close to that.”

Kelly Lange, an anchorwoman on television station KNBC, was a colleague of Wayne’s during her years as an airborne traffic reporter for KABC radio. By midday Wednesday, Lange had called KFI and reminisced on the air about Wayne and the tight-knit fraternity of traffic reporters.

“We especially relied on Bruce because Bruce was so well-respected,” said Lange, who is not a pilot. “He was always solid, he was always there.”

Served as Mentor

Street recalled that Wayne was his mentor when he was hanging around the Fullerton Airport, trying to learn how to break into the business.

“He took a very fatherly attitude toward me,” Street said. “I’ll always be grateful to him.”

Wayne spent six hours daily in a space so cramped that one’s legs cannot be crossed. “It’s very rewarding, but it’s darn difficult,” Wayne said in an interview last January.

So did Lois Wayne, Bruce Wayne’s wife, who is completing research for a book on airborne traffic reporters, to be called “Asphalt Angels.” Nationwide, between 1965 and 1975, crashes killed an average of one such flying reporter per year, she said.

“In my mind, I would equate them as modern-day Pony Express riders: They’re rugged, adventuresome, and they blazed their own path,” Lois Wayne said in an interview before Wednesday’s tragedy. “At the same time they provide a very valuable service to the nation’s commuters. They are the unsung heroes. . . .”

Reminded of Pressures

KMPC’s McInness is reminded daily of the pressures of being a flying traffic reporter.

“The combination of working a split shift (morning and late afternoon) and trying to fly and report and watch out for other aircraft and flying in the busiest aviation area in the nation--by the time Friday night comes, you’re ready for that weekend,” McInness said.

Joe Green, who reports for Boston radio station WBZ, flew with Wayne before he left for California. “It was a shock” to hear of his colleague’s death, Green said. “Bruce to me was not a flamboyant personality. He was a Mr. Cool. I can’t recall him putting himself in a position that there was any extra risk.”

Still, Green acknowledged, some risk is always there, and “there are some things you just can’t do anything about. . . .

“I’ve been doing this for 18 years,” he said, “flying for 35 years. People are only as old as they feel. I feel ooooold.”

KIIS’ Street said he and his colleagues plan to fly in formation--with one aircraft missing--over Wayne’s funeral ceremony.

“You know, it’s a shame he didn’t go another six months, retire, write some books and talk about it,” said Street. “He was a wonderful aviator.”