Airport Foes Raise Noise, Safety Issues

North and South County residents previously considered immune from a commercial airport at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station could find themselves sitting under a flight path, airport opponents said Friday.

At an informational meeting designed to warn the public about aviation noise, raise safety concerns and rally more residents to their cause, airport opponents accused Orange County’s decision makers of misleading homeowners about takeoffs and landings.

“What they are proposing is unsafe and definitely unrealistic,” said keynote speaker and commercial pilot Todd Thornton of Laguna Beach.

The comments made at the meeting of members of Project ‘99, an Irvine-based group opposed to the airport, were promptly denounced by Orange County officials and airport backers as rhetoric aimed at frightening the public.

“Safety is of the utmost concern, and the community should expect and has good reason to expect that the county and the Federal Aviation Administration working together would neither propose nor implement any operation scenario that would be unsafe,” said Courtney Wiercioch, who is overseeing the El Toro project for the county.

Flight paths, safety and noise are the most inflammatory issues surrounding plans to develop a commercial airport when the 4,700-acre military base is retired in mid-1999.

Opponents believe that county officials are publicly vowing that planes at El Toro will not fly west over Irvine but are secretly planning for them to do so once an airport is up and running. Airport backers say such conspiratorial talk is a ploy to generate opposition to the project.

Airport backers point out that the county Board of Supervisors ruled out westerly takeoffs over Irvine as a condition of its December decision to pursue development of a commercial airport at El Toro.

And the Federal Aviation Administration, they insist, will have final say on whether the county’s vision of an El Toro airport is safe.

“If what [Thornton’s] saying is correct, then he shouldn’t worry about it, because there won’t be an airport at El Toro,” said Bruce Nestande, head of the pro-airport movement.

Airport backers said fears about noise are also exaggerated and cite the large “no-homes” zone surrounding the airport. The county predicts planes will land from the south and departures will fly east or north for several miles before turning. Airport backers said a Times graphic published Dec. 12 showed that turn occurring too quickly off the end of the runway.

Thornton insisted Friday that westerly takeoffs over Irvine are all but a certainty because the county’s proposal for easterly takeoffs violates “Flying 101 basics.”

It forces planes to climb an uphill runway, depart into rising terrain and do battle with detrimental tail winds--all critical safety issues, he said. While high performance military aircraft can handle these obstacles, Thornton questioned whether commercial aircraft can.

“The bottom line is that there are problems with the tail winds, the upslope of the runways and the unforgiving terrain,” Thornton said to a group of several dozen people.

Thornton said his charges are backed up by the Air Line Pilots Assn., the union representing the nation’s pilots. The group has expressed support for a commercial airport at El Toro but has threatened to boycott eastbound takeoffs as unsafe.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Flight Fight

Flight paths and safety are two key issues in the debate over turning the retiring El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into a commercial airport. Scenarios by Orange County and airport opponents differ:

What the County Says

* Takeoffs will be to the north and east, landings from the south; largely mimics current military use

* Concerns about aircraft noise and safety are exaggerated

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What Opponents Say

* Takeoffs to the east are hazardous due to rising terrain, unfavorable prevailing winds and other dangers

* Additional flights will be required to take off north; others will pass over unsuspecting residents to the west

Sources: Orange County, Project 99

Researched by RENE LYNCH / Los Angeles Times