Near Midair Collisions Plummet to Just 1 in ’91

Only one near midair collision was reported in 1991 over Orange County skies, a dramatic drop from the nine incidents reported by pilots in 1990 and 18 posted in 1989, federal statistics show.

Aviation experts largely attributed the decline to creation of a pie-shaped safety zone, known as an airport radar service area, or ARSA, around John Wayne Airport in 1990. Pilots flying within the zone, which extends for about a 5-mile radius, must be in two-way radio contact with an air traffic controller.

The new near midair collision statistics were released by the Federal Aviation Administration in Washington on Wednesday in the wake of last week’s near midair collision involving an Alaska Airlines MD-80 and a twin-engine Piper Navajo. The planes came dangerously close as they neared touchdown on the same runway at John Wayne Airport. The pilot of the Alaska Airlines jet carrying 49 people estimated the two planes came within 100 feet of each other.

FAA investigators continued to evaluate radar tracks and voice communication tapes Wednesday to determine what caused the near-collision. FAA officials said they have been focusing on two factors.

The first is a wide turn the Navajo took to approach the runway after being cleared to land ahead of the Alaska Airlines jet. The wide turn put the plane a half-mile east of the runway, forcing pilot Robert Akin to correct his course just as the Alaska Airlines jet was closing in on the same air space.

The second factor is the set of instructions to Akin. He was told to abort his landing and stay on a heading parallel to the runway, but was then instructed to make a right turn that possibly put him in the jetliner’s path.

Meanwhile, the statistics showing a drop in reported near midair collisions received a warm welcome from segments of the aviation community.

Joe Fowler, manager of the FAA tower at John Wayne, said the new safety zone imposed in January, 1990, was one of the greatest improvements to aviation safety locally.

“Once we had that regulatory airspace in place,” Fowler said, “we knew where everybody was. . . . There was nobody wandering through our airspace unknown to us. . . . It’s made things a lot more pleasant for a lot more people, including pilots and controllers.”

Christine Edwards, chief of operations at John Wayne Airport, agreed but added that near midair collisions will continue to occur even in closely regulated airspace because of the human factor.

Edwards, a pilot herself, acknowledged that owners of small planes were not happy about the new ARSA when it was first planned. “I would say they’re still not real keen on it, but they’ve accepted it.”

“That’s true,” said Gary Lackey, a pilot and owner of a flight school based at John Wayne Airport. “I was somewhat of a disbeliever. . . . But now I believe it has made it safer.”

Lackey, who also serves as a volunteer accident prevention counselor for the FAA, said there are many factors contributing to the decline in reported near midair collisions, including the economy. “As the recession has hit us, there’s less flying being done,” he said. “There are fewer transient aircraft coming into Orange County.”

Lackey said flight instructors are emphasizing vigilance more than ever and are training pilots to use specific entry and departure routes out of John Wayne.

FAA spokeswoman Elly Brekke noted that the occurrence of an air disaster can influence what pilots report. She noted that the number of reported near-collisions peaked in 1987, the year after a collision between an Aeromexico jetliner and a small plane occurred over Cerritos. “People started reporting things they may not have reported in the past,” she said.

The data for Orange County reflects a nationwide trend, officials said. Near midair collision reports for the entire state, for example, declined from 123 in 1990 to 69 in 1991, according to the FAA’s computer-generated summaries.

During the two-year period, none of the near midair collisions reported for Orange County skies was rated “critical,” a designation that would mean a catastrophe was imminent and only narrowly avoided. Five incidents were listed as having the “potential” for a midair collision, with the remainder evaluated by the FAA has posing “no hazard.”

Four of the incidents occurred over Santa Ana, three over Seal Beach, and one each over Anaheim, Tustin and San Clemente, according to the FAA summaries.

Seal Beach is a problem area, officials agree, because several commercial and non-commercial air routes converge there.

Numbers Take a Dive

The number of near-collisions reported in the skies over Orange County has decreased in the past two years.

Year & Number

1985: 16

1986: 17

1987: 28

1988: 8

1989: 18

1990: 9

1991: *1

* Through Dec. 27.

Source: Federal Aviation Administration