Report Says El Toro Runway Plan Is Sound

Jets that lose use of an engine while taking off from the proposed El Toro airport would be able to land safely without smashing into hills to the north and east of the tarmac, a group of airport supporters said Thursday.

The group cited a report prepared for the county by an aviation consulting firm. The report concluded that two dozen types of commercial aircraft--including 737s, 747s and 757s--could manage to avoid the hills and mountains if they lost an engine at takeoff.

“El Toro did not present any more difficulties than any other airport,” said Nasos Apostolopoulos, the consultant who prepared the study.

The nation’s two largest airline pilots unions have raised concerns about the safety of the El Toro runways, questioning whether jets with heavy payloads would be able to climb over the hills.

Union members expressed special worry over the eastern runway, where the county plans to send about 70% of departures. The Air Line Pilots Assn. has said its members might refuse to use El Toro if the runway configuration is not changed.

Earlier this year, the county released a study stating that jets could make it over the hills and that jets departing from El Toro would actually have to climb at a less steep angle than those using John Wayne Airport.

Apostolopoulos said that if an engine failed during takeoff from El Toro, the pilot could turn the jet toward the ocean and return to the airport.

El Toro backers hailed the report as another indication that the airport plan is sound. But airport foes remain unconvinced.

“I’ll take notice when the Air Line Pilots Assn. or the FAA tells me this airport is safe,” said Paul Eckles, executive director of the South County coalition opposing the El Toro plan. “That hasn’t happened yet.”

It is rare for a commercial jet to lose power in one of it engines. Airport backers said such an engine failure has occurred five times at John Wayne Airport since 1968.