Report Says Skies Over LAX Top U.S. in Near-Collisions

Los Angeles International Airport had nearly twice as many near mid-air collisions involving commercial airliners in the last three years as did airports in Chicago, New York and San Francisco, which had the second-highest number of near-misses, according to a federal report released Monday.

The data in a report by the General Accounting Office reflects what aviation experts and pilots have known for some time--the skies over the Los Angeles Basin are the most congested in the United States. There are an estimated 27,000 licensed pilots--commercial and private--in Los Angeles County.

Cerritos Tragedy

“There is an increasing awareness to report near misses, especially after the Cerritos tragedy,” said Barbara Abel, an FAA spokeswoman in Los Angeles, referring to the 1986 mid-air collision between a small private plane and an Aeromexico DC-9, killing 82 people.

According to the GAO, there were 57 near-collisions in the LAX airspace in 1986-1988, compared to 29 incidents each in Chicago, San Francisco and New York.

The GAO investigation also disclosed that three other Southern California airports--Ontario, John Wayne in Orange County and Burbank--were among the top 12 in the nation in near-miss incidents.

Twenty near-collisions were reported for the Santa Ana/El Toro area, placing it seventh on the list. Ontario was ranked ninth and Burbank 12th.

Of the 712 near-collisions reported last year, 326 involved commercial carriers. Of that number, 231 were described as serious. This compared to 1,058 near-collisions in 1987, of which 489 involved commercial aircraft, including 354 that were considered serious.

2,610 Near-Misses

The GAO reported that overall in the 1986-1988 period, 2,610 near-collisions occurred, 1,158 involving commercial airliners and 834 deemed serious.

“We’ve got work to do to improve the margin of safety in the skies,” said Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who requested the report.

Abel, without providing figures, said the GAO report was misleading because reports of near-misses since 1987 have declined both nationwide and in Los Angeles, although she said it was true that LAX led the nation.

The problem in Southern California was illustrated yet again late Sunday night when a private plane and a commuter plane approaching John Wayne Airport came within 200 feet of each other.

The incident involving United Express Flight 3542 and an unidentified Cherokee plane occurred about 6,000 feet, three miles south of Long Beach, FAA officials said.

Both planes landed safely and the FAA was investigating the reported near-miss, Abel said.

A companion GAO report, investigating reasons for dangerous conditions in the skies, cited an instance where a radar approach control station’s computer screens--overloaded with information on aircraft altitude, speed and direction--flickered or blacked-out for 16 minutes during peak afternoon hours.

Screens Flickered

Los Angeles, Burbank, Santa Ana and Ontario stations, which guide planes when they fly outside major airport control zones, reported that their screens blacked out, flickered or respond slowly when the computers reached capacity.

“This points to the fact that there is an erosion of controller confidence in the equipment,” said Tony Dresden, spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn.

The FAA confirmed the findings of the GAO reports and said the agency has “a number of programs under way to correct this problem.”

“When these incidents occur, FAA’s air-traffic procedures and separation standards ensure that there is no compromise of safety,” the FAA statement said.

Times staff writers George Ramos in Los Angeles and Jeffrey A. Perlman in Costa Mesa contributed to this story.