62 in 6 Years at John Wayne : Accidents Do Happen--Even on the Ground

As you rumble down the John Wayne Airport runway toward takeoff, the knot in your stomach implores you to stay on the ground, where it’s safe.

But there have been 62 accidents on the runways, taxiways and aircraft parking areas at the airport since Jan. 1, 1983, Federal Aviation Administration records show. They range from the Cessna that skidded to a stop on the runway because its pilot retracted the landing gear instead of the flaps, to the DC-9 jetliner that struck a parked fuel truck.

Although there were 10 such incidents in 1988--four more than in 1987--that’s still fewer than the 18 posted for 1984, according to FAA records. And although numbers for other airports were not available, FAA and John Wayne officials said they believe the airport has one of the lowest accident rates in the United States.

“The numbers are pretty low, considering the large number of daily flight operations we have here,” said Kathie Rutherford, airport spokeswoman.

There were 533,531 takeoffs and landings at John Wayne Airport in 1988, 444,594 of which involved non-commercial aircraft, according to airport officials. There is a daily average of 182 commercial jet departures or landings.

Safety Checks

Jan Mittermeier, assistant airport manager, said: “We maintain a presence out on the field to check for safety problems, and when we know a new aircraft is going to use this facility, there are all sorts of elaborate plans and drawings that are submitted to the FAA showing how that plane is going to get from one point to another, with wing clearances and a lot more.”

An FAA spokesman in Washington said it is not unusual for some airports--including Los Angeles International and Washington National--to have dozens of mishaps on the ground in a single year.

Because the criteria for classification as a ground accident include runway delays and damage to buildings, some listed as ground accidents actually occurred in the air, either just before or immediately after takeoff.

Such was the case at John Wayne, for example, on Sept. 27, 1983, when a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 jetliner lost power after takeoff and showered flaming engine debris on homes below, setting several roof fires. The FAA records show that since 1983, four accidents resulted in deaths and four in injuries. Among the cases shown in the records:

- September, 1983: A passenger died after walking into a propeller of a small Cessna. “The pilot claims that the passenger was warned of the hazard before deplaning.”

- January, 1984: A pilot was injured when his plane flipped over in the wind during landing.

- October, 1984: A pilot died in a fiery crash when the propeller of his small Beechcraft came off during takeoff. “Latch spring not installed in proper hub.”

- November, 1985: A Piper crashed in a Tustin field on approach to John Wayne, injuring the pilot. “Fuel cell bladders not fastened, partially collapsed. This reduced fuel capacity. Ran out of fuel, landed in field.”

- December, 1985: A pilot was killed when his Piper “struck a tree, then a house during landing, after the engine quit. Ran right main fuel tank dry, did not switch tanks.”

- February, 1986: A pilot died when his small Beechcraft missed the runway on a fog-bound approach and crashed in an Irvine parking lot. “Pilot was not instrument rated.”

- April, 1987: “A baggage loader ran into the side of a parked Continental Airlines DC-9. Driver’s foot severed. Blamed bad brakes.”

- August, 1988: A flight attendant on a BAe-146 jetliner was “injured trying to reach seat during takeoff roll. Cabin crew did not hear announcement of takeoff.”

Some of the accidents involved jet blasts’ lifting small planes off the ground, blown tires and pilot errors. In one incident, for example, the pilot of a small Piper “landed with gear up. Forgot to lower landing gear.”

And there’s this one, about a Cessna: “Collided with 2 parked aircraft. Malfunction of anti-skid control. . . .”

And this about one Cessna overtaking another: “Overflew unauthorized Cessna on the same runway. Pilot reported he did not hear tower instructions to abort.”

‘Little Damage’

Cargo doors and cockpit windows have blown out on takeoffs, and planes have come down hard, collapsing their landing gear. Many of the incidents involved student pilots.

But Gary Lackey of Lenair Aviation Inc., a flight school at John Wayne, said there is no cause for alarm.

“I would say that ground incidents occur often enough to be a headache, but there’s actually little damage ever done,” he said. “Considering the level of activity here and the strange mix of flight operations--with busy airline schedules and large numbers of general aviation aircraft--we are doing very well as an airport.”

“It’s much better now than it was a few years ago,” Lackey said. “Now we don’t have so many problems with the small planes and the big jets getting too close together.

“Many of the problems occur when the (control) tower has urged a private pilot to hurry up and land in order to get out of the way of a big jet,” Lackey said.

On Thursday night, American Airlines Flight 619 was forced to abort a landing at John Wayne and accelerate steeply to avoid a small plane that had taxied onto the runway in front of it.

As is often the case, the incident was not reported to the FAA. Barbara Abels, an FAA spokeswoman, said such reports are made at the pilots’ discretion.

Some owners of small aircraft are worried that the county, which owns the airport, may try some day to limit the facility to commercial airlines, air taxi services and business jets. So far, however, the number of ground accidents has been too low to fuel more than speculation about banning small privately owned planes.