Jet Taxied on Pavement for Small Planes

A chartered jetliner sank into the asphalt at Van Nuys Airport--a last-straw climax to the Rose Bowl visit of a planeload of irritated Wisconsin football fans--because it had somehow taxied onto pavement too weak to support such a large plane, airport officials said Monday.

The Boeing 727, carrying 137 homesick Badger fans--who arrived in Southern California to discover that the game tickets they paid for had been sold to others--got stuck because its landing gear punched through thin pavement meant only for smaller planes, officials said.

The question was: Why was it there?

The Dallas-based owner of the jet, Express One International, said that Federal Aviation Administration controllers in the tower of the city-owned airport directed the 727 there.

“Our pilots did not pick that route,” said Stephen Thompkins, general council for Express One.

“It’s not like a shopping mall where you take your car and park it anywhere you can find. The control tower told the aircraft to proceed to taxiway Echo, and that was the only way to get there. When the 727 suddenly started to sink, it was as much a surprise to our crew as anybody.”

The pilot immediately brought the jet to a stop and no one was hurt in the mishap, but the passengers had to be taken off the plane, temporarily housed in a hotel, fed, and then late that night bused to Los Angeles International Airport.

They finally left for Madison at 2:30 a.m. Monday, aboard a replacement jet flown in from Minneapolis by the tour operator.

The boarding area used by the jet at Van Nuys Airport is owned by Peterson Aviation, a company that provides aircraft services.

Peterson officials did not return calls from The Times, but airport officials said the company leases a part of the facility that traditionally has been used for airplanes and small jets.

“We basically didn’t know they were going to have anything as heavy as a 727 there,” said airport manager Ron Kochevar.

Planes and jets usually serviced by the facility range in weight from about 6,000 to 75,000 pounds, Kochevar said, while a fully loaded Boeing 727 weighs about 160,000 pounds.

The stretch of asphalt, which Kochevar described as a “transitional area” between Peterson and the airport’s taxiway, is only two or three inches thick.

“And the trouble is, there is no base under it,” as there is under the heavier-duty taxiways and runways, Kochevar said.

The airport manager said the incident is under investigation, but he thinks it’s possible that tower controllers were never told by airport administrators that the “transitional area” could not handle a heavy jet.

“They were probably not aware of it,” he said. “We had no idea that (Peterson) was going to accommodate an aircraft of that size at this time.”

If it is determined that the airport, which is responsible for maintenance of the asphalt strip, is at fault, the mishap could end up costing the city. The tour operator, Front Page Tours of Minneapolis, footed the bill for the replacement jet, the hotel rooms and other expenses caused by the delay.

“I’m not sure at this time who will end up paying,” said Dick Page, president of the company. “But we’ll be talking to everyone involved.”

The airport mishap added insult to injury for the tour passengers, who began their weekend holiday in Los Angeles with the news that the Rose Bowl tickets they had been promised as part of their tour package would not be forthcoming.

Angry government officials in Wisconsin have asked state and federal officials to investigate the ticket situation that left fans with the unappetizing option of paying hundreds of dollars to buy game tickets from scalpers or watch their beloved team make its first Rose Bowl appearance in three decades on TV.

Page said that he was glad his company had been contracted only for transportation and had nothing to do with the ticket snafu.

“I want to emphasize we had nothing to do with that,” he said with an audible sigh of relief.

“What happened at the airport was unfortunate, but we made every effort to take care of the passengers until we could arrange for a flight to get them home.”