Marines and Irvine Will Work Together on Airspace Issues

The City of Irvine in two unanimous votes Tuesday moved in a cooperative direction toward one of its largest neighbors, the U.S. Marine Corps, agreeing to work with the Marines on the future of the airspace they share.

After listening to testimony from Brig. Gen. D.E.P. Miller, commander of the Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro, the City Council voted to ask the Marines to restrict flights of the CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter to “the least populated routes available” until a Navy investigation into the aircraft’s safety is completed.

All of the trouble-plagued aircraft were grounded by the Marines and the Navy on Feb. 14 because of suspected gearbox problems, and the Department of the Navy has begun an investigation into the safety of the aircraft that is not expected to be completed before the end of 1987. But some of the aircraft based in Tustin have already returned to the air.

Miller said he welcomes the vote, and he suggested a cooperative effort between the city and the Marines to develop a memorandum of understanding regarding the helicopters based at the Marine Corps Air Station at Tustin, similar to a 1983 agreement concerning jet flights in and out of El Toro.

The general also lauded the council’s subsequent vote to begin formal exploration of annexation of the base as a means of preventing commercial use of the facility, saying “we stand equally ready” to support the city effort to restrict use of the base to military aircraft. He said: “I think we’re well on our way” to developing a positive relationship with the city.

Councilman Ed Dornan called the council’s vote in support of the staff report “the first public step” in preventing commercialization of the base.

Miller agreed with a recommendation by the city’s Public Safety Commission for centralized, advertised telephone numbers for the city and the military to receive and investigate complaints about military overflights by helicopters.

There were some points of disagreement between city residents and the Marines, but the atmosphere was mainly polite and cordial.

Under existing policy, helicopters from the Tustin base cross the Irvine along seven air corridors. Miller said that helicopter pilots are required to remain within the flight corridors and that “if they do not, they will lose their wings.”

‘Another House Down There’

One of the major problems with helicopter flights over Irvine, Miller said, is “residential construction beneath the flight corridors.” Miller said that “each day I fly over those routes there’s another house down there.”

The general acknowledged that he was unable to provide detailed information regarding the Super Stallion crashes because the Defense Department unit charged with investigating the accidents has been “very secretive” with its findings.

“We don’t have access to Safety Center data,” he said, referring to the unit.

The CH-53E, a three-engine craft, has been plagued by problems since first being delivered to the Marines in 1980 by Skorsky Aircraft of Stratford, Conn. The Super Stallion has been involved in six fatal crashes that killed 20 Marines; 17 Marines have been injured in mishaps involving the Super Stallion.

8 Helicopters Flying

In answer to questions from several council members, Miller said that he does not have the power to ground flights of the CH-53E but that he would not ground them if he could, saying that the aircraft is “not the most dangerous” craft now being flown by the Marines.

Miller said that eight of the 44 CH-53Es based at Tustin are flying again and that four more should be flying by next week. The general reminded the council that the Marines came to Orange County in 1943, well before the establishment of Irvine and that the El Toro and Tustin facilities constitute “a permanent center of Marine aviation on the West Coast” that is “vital to the national defense.”