Another Pilots Union Warns of El Toro Risk

Adding fuel to the contentious El Toro airport debate, another airline pilots union has raised concerns about the safety of takeoffs from a runway the county has designated for the majority of departures.

The Allied Pilots Assn., representing 9,000 American Airlines pilots, stated its opposition to using the runway in a letter dated Tuesday to Supervisor William G. Steiner, chairman of the County Board of Supervisors.

The board voted last December to convert the surplus military base to a civilian airport.

It is the second warning from a pilots union to the county on potential safety problems with Runway 7. Last year, the Air Line Pilots Assn., or ALPA, representing 44,000 commercial pilots nationwide, also questioned the runway’s safety.

The county has designated Runway 7 for 70% of the takeoff flights. Both pilot unions maintain that it is unsafe because the planes would have to take off uphill, downwind and toward the mountains.

“It is the unanimous decision of the Allied Pilots Assn. and the Air Line Pilots Assn., representing all the pilots of all the major airlines in the United States, that it is unsafe to fly the departure and landing routes” under the airport plan, according to the letter signed by Stan Sanders, the union’s local representative.

County officials say they will further examine the safety issue and dismissed the letter as an attempt to derail the airport project by residents in South County, where the plan has encountered strong opposition.

“This viewpoint has been represented in previous public hearings usually given by airline pilots that live in South County,” Steiner said. “Obviously, I don’t believe that the [Federal Aviation Administration] nor the county would ever adopt a plan that is technically infeasible. . . . We are not going to adopt something that is not going to be safe.”

Added Courtney Wiercioch, head of the El Toro airport planning process for the county: “Clearly, we know that the pilots have concerns and we will be discussing and resolving those concerns as part of the planning process.”

The two unions have expressed safety concerns about many California airports, including John Wayne, Los Angeles International, San Francisco International and Lindbergh Field in San Diego.

Neither organization has taken an official stand opposing or supporting the proposed El Toro airport. In commenting on the environmental impact report, the Air Line Pilots Assn. said it doesn’t necessarily oppose the airport, but stopped short of an official endorsement.

The debate over the runway began last year while the airport plan’s environmental impact report was being reviewed.

At the time, the Air Line Pilots Assn. stated it would “steadfastly oppose the use of El Toro as a commercial airport if takeoffs to east . . . are a condition of its use.”

The Allied Pilots Assn. letter maintains that the safest way to fly would be to build two runways in a northwest direction, parallel to the Santa Ana Freeway and the mountains. That design, however, would also increase the noise level--particularly in Irvine--and is not currently being considered in the county plan, according to officials.

“We recognize the significance of noise abatement, but it should never take precedence over safety,” said Gregg Overman, director of communications for the Allied Pilots Assn.. “That is our primary concern. We think safety is being compromised.”