Federal Report Credits LAX for Improving : Airport: But the FAA says the control tower remains understaffed nearly a year after runway crash that killed 34.

Nearly a year after a disastrous runway collision killed 34 people, Los Angeles International Airport “enjoys praise and respect from users” but remains plagued by an understaffed control tower and a malfunctioning ground radar system, according to a federal report released Wednesday.

In a generally upbeat assessment of the nation’s third-busiest airfield, the Federal Aviation Administration found that the airport has made numerous improvements since the collision of a USAir jetliner and a SkyWest commuter plane last Feb. 1. The Boeing 737 jetliner, cleared for landing, struck the commuter plane as it prepared for takeoff on the same runway.

Officials have corrected glare problems that made it difficult for controllers to see planes in some areas of the airport, standardized runway crossing procedures, improved equipment in the control tower, approved plans for a new tower, and developed procedures to better handle ground congestion caused by wide-body jets, the report says.

“In general, there is a feeling that things are getting better,” said Thomas J. Kreamer, chairman of the Air Line Pilot Assn.’s air traffic control committee and a past critic of management at the airport. “There have been changes there, and the FAA deserves a lot of credit for making those changes.”

But the report also found that operation of the airport’s control tower “requires the frequent use of overtime” by the facility’s 32 controllers, a situation that could increase chances for human error because of job-related fatigue. On average, the report said, the tower uses 300 hours of overtime each biweekly pay period and needs nine additional controllers to cover the workload.

The report describes the tower’s staffing as adequate, but cautioned: “There is room for improvement.”

In addition, the report found that the airport’s ground radar system, which was malfunctioning at the time of the crash, continues to have problems and is now used only during bad weather. Some experts have said that a properly functioning ground radar system might have helped controller Robin Lee Wascher, whose error led to the accident, keep track of the SkyWest plane on the runway.

“The current effort to replace the (ground radar) with new, state-of-the-art equipment should continue to be given high priority,” the report said. Airport officials said two sites have been selected for a new system, and construction is scheduled to begin next month.

The FAA study, headed by an official from the FAA’s Southwest Region in Dallas, comes three months after an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the crash was caused by the FAA’s inept management of the airport’s control tower.

Safety board officials in Washington would not comment on the FAA report Wednesday, and FAA officials denied that their study is intended to blunt the investigative agency’s harsh assessment of their performance.

“This was not a fox and the chicken coop-type process,” said Joseph C. Foster, FAA manager for the Los Angeles area. “I don’t deny that all of us do want to put our best foot forward, but the important thing here is . . . this report was done by outside representatives.”

The city of Los Angeles Department of Airports, which runs the airport, requested the study last fall because of concerns that publicity after the USAir-SkyWest collision had raised fear among airline passengers about the safety of the airport. Clifton A. Moore, the department’s executive director, said the study should put those concerns to rest.

“The guts of the report is that you can fly with reasonable confidence here,” Moore said. “It is a safe place.”

Kreamer, the veteran pilot, agreed that the improvements have made the airport safer. Last fall, Kreamer characterized the airport as among the worst in the country--a belief he says he no longer holds.

“They deserve credit, but here again we are looking at a reaction from the FAA,” Kreamer said. “Instead of making the changes when they were needed, they waited until there was an accident to react.”

Meanwhile, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and city fire officials released a separate report Wednesday with recommendations for improving airline safety standards. The report, requested by Bradley after last year’s crash, focuses on deaths aboard the USAir jetliner caused by the inhalation of toxic gases.

Deputy Fire Chief Davis R. Parsons, who headed the six-month study, said many of the 21 people who died from inhaling toxic gases inside the plane might have survived if stringent toxicity standards had existed for cabin materials. The 50-page report will be forwarded to the FAA, Parsons said, with the hope that new regulations will result, including one that would force airlines to retrofit the cabins of all aircraft within five years.

The airline industry, however, is not likely to embrace proposals for regulations without a thorough review. Joe Vreeman, vice president of the Air Transport Assn., a trade group for airlines, said other safety improvements may take priority.