LAX Safety, at Eye Level
Most air travelers, when they think about safety, are concerned about something going wrong in flight. The fact is, however, that technological improvements in aircraft reliability and collision avoidance have shifted safety experts’ concerns more toward what happens on the ground.
“Runway incursions” (where an aircraft or vehicle makes an unauthorized intrusion onto an active runway) are increasing, especially at the busiest airports. But there are many other aspects of airport surface movement that play a role in the safety of ground operations.
Los Angeles International Airport is a perfect example of these complex safety factors, which is why experts are calling for a massive modernization program there. No responsible safety expert would call LAX unsafe, but increased crowding and antiquated design are pushing the limits of acceptability.
The fact that LAX from 1997 to 2000 had the highest number of serious near-collisions of the nation’s busiest airports is an alarm bell we cannot afford to ignore.
How bad is the problem? Think of surface traffic movement at LAX as a mall parking lot during a holiday sale. Visualize the mall--cars circling while looking for a space to open up, cars in spaces waiting for an opportunity to pull out, vehicles bottlenecked at crossing points, traffic backing up on the highway as cars try to enter the mall--and you’ll have a good idea of what pilots see from their cockpits and controllers see from their tower seats.
The consequences of airport congestion go far beyond delay and frustration. When aircraft sit on taxiways, they compromise the safety of other aircraft that are taking off or landing. And when the ground traffic approaches gridlock, controllers must resort to nonstandard instructions to pilots, which can lead to misunderstandings and errors. Controllers and pilots are working together to reduce runway incursions, but the key is that aircraft must move unencumbered into available gates, a situation that is increasingly rare at LAX.
The airfield at LAX is not significantly different from what it was when we entered the Jet Age in 1961. LAX was built decades ago to handle much smaller aircraft. As larger aircraft with greater wingspans and lengths have been introduced, the airport infrastructure, including terminals, taxiways and runways, has remained the same. Three-quarters of the current gates are too small to handle 747s, let alone the newer generation of aircraft that are scheduled to begin servicing LAX next summer.
Airport facilities function as an integrated system. Adding gates doesn’t help if the taxiways and ramps continue to choke movement. Applying one or two quick fixes won’t solve the problem.
At the very least, a three-pronged approach is needed: taxiways, terminals and gates. New taxiways would allow planes to move off the airfield more quickly, reducing the risk of runway incursions. They also would accommodate larger aircraft.
Additional gates would provide airplanes a place to park, easing congestion on runways and taxiways.
A new terminal would allow airplanes ingress and egress simultaneously, something they don’t have now because the alleyways between terminals are too narrow.
Modernizing LAX is a safety imperative. Although overworked controllers and dedicated pilots are doing everything possible to make air travel a safe and enjoyable experience, there are limits. We are only as good as the tools, materials and space we are given to work with.
We’re not at the point where the cliche “an accident waiting to happen” applies at LAX, but pilots and controllers don’t want to wait to see how many more years of neglect it will take to cross that line.
