Tower Power : From on High at John Wayne Airport, Air Controllers Must Keep It Together While Keeping All the Planes Apart

From a glass tower six stories above the airfield at John Wayne Airport, a small group of air traffic controllers direct from 1,200 to 2,000 takeoffs and landings each day.

Sitting, standing and pacing around the cramped perch--which is stuffed with computers, radar equipment and radios--controllers make decisions quickly as they chatter with pilots in direct, no-nonsense aviation lingo. They watch radar screens and intently scan their panoramic view, guiding planes in and out of the airport 16 1/2 hours a day, seven days a week.

“It is a mini-Los Angeles International,” said veteran controller David Rintelman, 47. “To me, part of the excitement is the mix of planes and the different speeds. We don’t have a lot of airspace here, only a radius of less than 5 miles. It’s not like you have 60 miles to make a decision.”

Beginning today, the 30 Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers and their supervisors who occupy the hot seats in the tower may feel the heat even more.

As part of the $310-million John Wayne Airport expansion project, commercial aircraft will begin using the new Thomas F. Riley Terminal and private planes will take sole possession of the old Edward J. (Eddie) Martin Terminal.

The new terminal, which eventually will add about 70 commercial departures to the already busy day, will mean more work for the men and women in the tower. But they will take it in stride, said FAA tower manager Joe B. Fowler.

“We work enough (general-aviation) traffic to far exceed what commercial aviation would do at the very maximum,” the one-time controller and veteran FAA manager said.

Although John Wayne is the fifth-busiest airport in the nation in terms of takeoffs and landings because of its 530,000 operations each year, it is unique because of the large numbers of small planes that share the runways with imposing Boeing 757s, 737s and British BAe-146 jets. The airports that outrank it--Chicago O’Hare, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Dallas/Ft. Worth--mostly handle commercial aircraft and provide minimum service for smaller, general aviation planes, which account for 80% of the traffic at John Wayne.

Because of the heavy mix of aircraft, controllers handle a wide variety of pilots--from veteran airline captains to pilots making their first solo flight.

“At ‘Orange County Tower’ you learn to do it right and fast or you’re not here long,” Rintelman said. “An experienced controller at Orange County learns to tell a lot from a pilot’s voice. You can almost tell a pilot’s experience level by the way he communicates with the tower.”

(Despite the name change to John Wayne Airport in 1979, pilots and controllers still refer to it as Orange County Tower.)

The speeds of landing aircraft at John Wayne can vary as much as 100 m.p.h., said Bob Nietzel, a quality assurance specialist for the FAA. “You have to be able to mentally calculate which plane is going to be where at what time. Judgment is critical,” he said.

Control towers at airports that serve predominantly commercial aircraft handle approaches and takeoffs that are more predictable and easier to control because they all travel at one speed.

During the week, Fowler said, there is a rush of airline traffic between 7 and 8 in the morning, with a mixture of small aircraft and commercial carriers using the airport between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. In the late afternoon and evening, it’s busy again because of aircraft returning to the airport. Some are tied down overnight for early morning flights.

On busy Friday and Sunday afternoons, John Wayne has been described as “a whole different ballgame,” Rintelman said.

Many business people are anxious to arrive or depart after a week’s work, joining the rush of private pilots who are taking weekend pleasure trips or flight-training classes, Fowler said.

Reports of near-collisions in the air have dropped since January when the FAA created a new safety zone around John Wayne. Under the new procedure, a plane flying within 5 miles of the airport and at lower altitudes than commercial aircraft use is required to be in radio contact with the tower. Controllers say the new procedure allows them to advise all pilots around the airport of nearby traffic, thus maintaining a safe separation between aircraft.

The tower is only responsible for regulating air traffic within a 5-mile radius of the airport. The area beyond is under the jurisdiction of Coast TRACON in El Toro, which is the regional radar facility for most of Southern California. While Coast TRACON has been the subject of controversy for several years because of controller errors and poor working conditions, the Orange County Tower has not been cited.

John Wayne controllers handle 86.2 operations an hour, according to figures gathered over the last 12 months. On a recent day, there were 1,839 airport operations between 6:15 a.m. and 10:45 p.m. Another 300 aircraft flew through the airport airspace without landing.

But then, no one said air traffic controllers have it easy.

Psychological studies conducted over the last three decades show controllers have one of the most stressful jobs in society, ranking next to police officers and paramedics. That stress comes, in part, from the responsibility of directing the safety of as many as 10 aircraft at a time filled with crews and hundreds of passengers.

Air operations were radically curtailed in 1981 when air traffic controllers walked off their jobs in a labor dispute with the federal government. Many of them were later fired by President Ronald Reagan when they refused to return to work.

Controllers work eight-hour shifts with two 15-minute breaks and 30 minutes for lunch. A beginning controller makes $24,705, and those working at a major facility with at least 20 years’ experience can earn up to $65,000 a year. Officials said the average controller earns about $30,000 a year.

In the past, the military supplied the FAA with most of its controllers, but in recent years most have come from the government’s air traffic academy in Oklahoma City, Okla. Applicants must have a high school diploma and complete 13 weeks of classroom study before starting on-the-job training at an air traffic control facility.

“There is one thing about controllers,” Fowler said. “They figure out early on if they like it or they don’t like it. If they don’t like it, they go elsewhere and find other employment.

“You either enjoy it and really take it to heart or in some cases you realize it is not your bag. Money does not seem to be a primary factor whether they stay or don’t stay,” Fowler said.

FAA officials agreed that the two main ingredients to safety are good pilots and good controllers. “It is a 50-50 proposition between controllers and pilots,” tower manager Fowler said. “As long as each of them does their job, the system works beautifully--the best in the world. But if someone falls down on the job, obviously there is a chance of the system breaking down.”

And it can break down.

In July, 1989, controllers in the Orange County Tower told the pilot of a small Beechcraft to turn left but he turned right, nearly causing a midair collision with a Boeing 737. The jetliner with 132 passengers aboard was forced to turn suddenly to avoid hitting the single-engine plane.

Another incident that occurred after sunset last September illustrated a well-coordinated effort between the controller in the tower and a distressed pilot.

Air traffic controller Joseph Santoro received a broken “Mayday” call from the pilot of a small single-engine plane that had just lost power. The Cessna 210, carrying the pilot and his passenger, was flying north along the coast on its way to Van Nuys.

Since it couldn’t make it to John Wayne, Santoro quickly directed the pilot to the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station as an alternative airport. But the pilot couldn’t reach it either. He searched through the darkness for a safe place to land.

Santoro knew the Newport Beach police helicopter was nearby. He radioed the helicopter pilot, giving him the location of the plane. The helicopter pilot flew to the Cessna, shining its spotlight so the crippled plane could land.

The Harbor Patrol, also notified by the tower, was waiting when the plane dropped into Newport Harbor just beyond the east jetty.

The pilot and the passenger were rescued, suffering only minor injuries.

“In my opinion this controller’s knowledge was a real factor in saving those people’s lives,” Fowler said. “He went well beyond what was required in his job.”

After the incident, Santoro said the pilot of the plane--who is also a helicopter pilot--later flew into John Wayne Airport, contacted the tower and recognized Santoro’s voice.

“He asked if I was the controller on duty the night of the incident,” Santoro said. “I said yes.”

Then the pilot thanked him.

Just another day . . .