Assessing the Risks to Those Near the Airport

The airplane crash in Eastbluff that wiped out a young Canadian family was statistically inevitable. Equally inevitable is a crash of a large commercial jet in our city. It will happen out of John Wayne Airport, the fifth-busiest airport in the nation. Doubling the number of commercial flights out of John Wayne next year also doubles the chances of a major jet crash in Newport Beach.

The crash site of a commercial jet airliner will not be confined to an area only the size of two tennis courts. Residents of Newport Beach were very fortunate there were not lives on the ground lost this time.

The decision to expand a tiny general aviation airport to a commercial facility in a highly populated area was irresponsible to begin with. There were open, unpopulated areas of Orange County at the time, but it would have been more expensive to build a remote airport, access roads needed to be built, etc. To double commercial flights next year out of John Wayne is additionally irresponsible. To continue to route aircraft over the most densely populated areas of Newport Beach is patently inexcusable.

I have a large file consisting of letters written by residents of Eastbluff, Sea Island, Irvine Terrace, Balboa Island and Balboa Peninsula to the city of Newport Beach, Orange County, the Federation Aviation Administration and our state senator. We have a petition signed by almost 3,000 residents demanding that the dangerous route and takeoff procedures be reexamined.

The deep power cutback one nautical mile after takeoff is outdated with the new Stage 3 aircraft now departing John Wayne and, according to a recent study funded by the city of Newport Beach, actually causes more noise by keeping commercial aircraft low over Newport Beach. More importantly, it severely decreases the pilots’ emergency power in case of engine failure, thus increasing the risk of a crash.

The outdated takeoff procedures also call for a turn to the left over the upper bay, routing aircraft toward Eastbluff. This routes commercial jets in front of small aircraft departing the shorter runway to their left. The current procedure then routes the commercial jets over the most populated areas of Newport Beach! All dangerous, unnecessary, outdated procedures.

I perceive Newport citizens as intelligent and politically sophisticated, and it amazes me that we have allowed and continue to allow the county to dump the entire burden of Orange County’s air traffic on our city. The noise, pollution and congestion caused by John Wayne is intolerable enough. This burden should not be allowed to extend to endangering our lives unnecessarily by specifically routing aircraft over our homes, schools and families.

John Wayne is growing faster than the national average for airport growth. The prospect of a second airport in Orange County is looking less likely. Even if a second airport site is found, John Wayne will remain in full operation.

Will Newport Beach have to wait for a disaster the magnitude of Cerritos to happen before the city, county and FAA enact safer takeoff procedures and routes?

MARY G. SINGLETON

Newport Beach

Singleton heads the Citizens for Air Route Equity.