Safety at Burbank Airport

Re “Safety Is The Loser in Airport Maneuvering,” March 21.

Wasn’t it irresponsible of Tom Greer to operate the airport for 22 years under dangerous conditions? It’s a wonder any of us have lived through a flight in or out of there.

KATHY BOYD, Sun Valley

*

Greer’s commentary is, if anything, understated. . . . It doesn’t make any difference which runway is in use or from which direction. The terminal is cleverly sited to be a hazard to any transport flying operation. This was identified and documented back in the 1960s, maybe earlier.

The essence of accident prevention is to identify the hazards and either accept the risk or do something to reduce the risk. Burbank has clearly decided to accept the risk and the airlines that serve Burbank are going along with it. There are passengers waiting at Burbank and money to be made.

When an airplane eventually runs off the side of the runway at Burbank, mud is going to be splashed on a lot of agencies including the FAA, airport authority, city councils and any involved airlines. One might be able to argue, in fact, that it should not be classified as an accident at all. It was the predictable result of a deliberate decision to accept the risk.

RICHARD H. WOOD, Snohomish, WA