El Toro Flight Plan

The search for a viable flight plan at the proposed El Toro airport has led a group of pilots to suggest a complete reconfiguration of runways. This may not be the way out of the dilemma that has 70% of residents in neighboring communities still opposed to a commercial airport, according to recent polling. But six years into the fierce debate, it is time for the county to reckon with the fact that the existing flight plan has not won community acceptance, and that to proceed as planned with the current layout without seriously considering alternatives probably would continue the mistrust.

The county has been planning as if it will approve the airport, and as if the debate was resolved by two ballot measures. We now know that there will be another vote affecting the airport early next year. At the same time, residents are sophisticated enough about flight operations and Federal Aviation Administration oversight to know that they can’t count on political assurances about runway options. Questions about flight patterns persist. Surely an issue this important can’t turn only on the cost of rebuilding runways.

There have been several alternatives proposed. The most recent suggested by Villa Park Councilman Robert E. McGowan, a retired United Airlines pilot, is on behalf of a group called Airline Pilots for a Safer El Toro. It envisions departures to the south over undeveloped parkland, crossing the coast at 8,000 feet, which is twice as high as planes crossing from John Wayne Airport up the coast.

The county says it is aware of the proposal and plans to respond in an environmental study. There may be questions about this and other alternatives regarding approaches and proximity to existing or planned development. But at the very least, the county must have a flight plan that would avoid placing an undue burden on surrounding communities and that has some chance of winning acceptance.