Pilots, Controllers Warn of Dangers at ‘Outdated’ LAX

Air traffic controllers and pilots urged local officials Thursday to make safety improvements at Los Angeles International Airport, saying the current layout is so outdated that an accident is likely without better runways and more gates to park airliners.

Capt. Jon Russell, regional safety chairman of the Air Line Pilots Assn., told local government officials that if improvements are not made, “we will have an accident at this airport.”

“The airport is functioning beyond its capabilities,” said Russell, a commercial pilot. “We have serious problems that need to be addressed now.”

The warnings came during a hearing on a long-range transportation plan being put together by the Southern California Assn. of Governments. The regional plan will include a recommended blueprint for airport growth.

Michael Foote, a controller who works at the LAX tower, recalled the 1991 disaster that left 34 people dead. He predicted that a similar accident could occur unless the airport is modernized.

Foote said the airport, which was built in the 1950s for a different generation of aircraft, has had the worst record of “near misses” of any airport since 1998. “Sooner or later it’s going to come up snake eyes,” said Foote, a local spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn.

After leading the nation in near-collisions in 1998 and 1999, LAX had a dip last year.

But Foote called the drop “smoke and mirrors” because aircraft crossed runways without proper clearance 24 times last year. The only reason they were not classified as runway incursions--the technical term used by the industry to describe the problem--was that there were no other aircraft in the runways, Foote said.

In the first quarter of this year, Foote said, six airliners crossed into runways without proper clearance. Five of those times other aircraft were involved, putting LAX on a course that would match its worst year, Foote said.

The controller said the airport was built for planes now on exhibit in the Smithsonian, while modern-day LAX is trying to deal with huge aircraft, like the Boeing 747, that can seat more than 400 passengers.

“We have no idea where we are going to put them,” Foote said of the ever-larger aircraft landing at LAX. “We don’t have the gates, we don’t have the taxiways to handle the traffic that we have today.”

The 1991 crash that Foote referred to was caused when a USAir jetliner landed on the same runway where a small commuter plane was awaiting takeoff.

“We think we run a safe airport,” said Nancy Castles, a spokeswoman for LAX, who contested Foote’s charges.

Castles said Foote’s numbers were accurate, but did not take into consideration the 780,000 takeoffs and landings at LAX each year. Factoring those in, the airport has a much better safety record than Foote suggests, she said.

The safety discussion came up as one part of the consideration of a long-range plan that favors limiting LAX to its current configuration and developing regional airports in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The Southern California Assn. of Governments’ plan, which could receive final approval next week, calls for an airport to be developed on the closed El Toro Marine base that would handle 30 million passengers a year.

Opponents of LAX expansion showed up for Thursday’s hearing wearing T-shirts saying “LAX Expansion No! El Toro Yes.”

In a meeting last month, a committee of the government association rejected a $12-billion LAX modernization plan that would lengthen and spread out the airport’s four runways, build a new terminal on the west end of the airport and make other changes. The association is under strong pressure to overturn the committee’s vote.

Moreover, the proposed LAX expansion plan must still be reviewed by the Los Angeles City Council, among other boards.