FAA Takes an El Toro Test Flight

Taking a major step in evaluating El Toro’s viability as a commercial airport, the FAA on Wednesday tested departure routes and obstacle clearances at the former Marine Corps airfield using a Lear jet chartered from Sacramento.

The test, the Federal Aviation Administration’s first at El Toro since the base was closed two years ago, was ordered by the agency’s aeronautical center in Oklahoma City, which is beginning what officials expect to be a lengthy assessment of whether El Toro can handle commercial flights.

The results of the FAA evaluation are considered crucial because of the fierce debate over whether El Toro can safely be converted into an international airport, as the Board of Supervisors wants.

The county says the runways are safe. But anti-airport forces and the nation’s largest pilots union insist that nearby mountains and high winds make takeoffs hazardous under certain conditions. Critics have also questioned whether Southern California’s already crowded skies--with air traffic from more than a dozen airports including Los Angeles International, John Wayne and Long Beach--could handle another major airport.

The testing comes two months after an FAA letter stating that changes now being drafted to local airspace procedures would accommodate safe commercial flights out of El Toro. But so far, the FAA hasn’t commented on the other safety concerns regarding the plan.

Under evaluation were the county’s proposed departure routes, their distances and altitudes for obstacle clearance and whether the routes are flyable, said Jerry Snyder, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration’s Western Pacific region.

The agency used a Lear 60, a fast but small eight-seat aircraft with an experienced FAA inspector aboard.

Airport critics were quick to point out that the Lear 60 hardly qualifies as a commercial jet but the FAA expressed confidence in the test and the inspector’s ability.

“The thing the public has to understand is that this is not a plane that is used commercially. It’s small and quiet,” said Tom O’Malley, deputy director of a South County anti-airport coalition and retired Marine colonel who flew C-130s.

The FAA, however, said the size of the plane was irrelevant to Wednesday’s test.

Part of the evaluation involved checking distances and elevations to ensure the routes are clear of obstacles and that the planes should be able to maneuver accordingly, “regardless of weight and size,” Snyder said.

Mark Hansen, an expert with the National Center of Excellence for Aviation Operations Research, said the Lear 60 is adequate for gathering information on departure routes.

“They can probably do everything they need to with a Lear jet,” Hansen said.

FAA evaluations are conducted to ensure that no hills, towers or highway overpasses interfere with departure and arrival conditions, Hansen said.

“They want to make sure they can climb safely. Landing isn’t so much of an issue. Departures are different, though, because the plane is under a higher load and it’s also limited in how steeply it can climb,” he said.

The jet was sighted about 10:10 a.m. when it cleared the Santa Ana Mountains and approached Runway 34 with its landing gear down, though it did not land. It flew at an elevation estimated at about 35 feet and then climbed out to the north at a rapid rate of ascent.

The aircraft left the area, then returned an hour later to fly over Runway 34 before climbing again. It circled to the left over Turtle Rock in Irvine and approached Runway 16.

O’Malley, who was at the base, said the aircraft flew over Runway 16 and departed over Laguna Woods.

The FAA will have final say over whether a civilian airport is built at El Toro and would provide at least some of the funding for it. County officials said they had no direct role in the evaluation but were pleased that the FAA is beginning to review the proposal.

“This was part of the [FAA’s] safety analysis, and the county really had nothing to do about it,” said Board Chairman Chuck Smith, who is part of a pro-airport majority of three on the five-member board.

Critics said they were satisfied with the test because it might prove that El Toro is unsafe for a commercial airport, but expressed disappointment with the county’s decision not to notify either them or the public about Wednesday’s test.

“Obviously, this test had been in the planning stages for some time,” said Leonard Kranser, who edits an anti-airport Web site.

County officials said they were told Friday by the FAA of the possibility of a test but did not learn the exact day and time until Tuesday about 3 p.m. At that point, officials said, they informed the Board of Supervisors and John Wayne Airport.

“We don’t control the FAA . . . There’s no conspiracy,” said Rob Richardson, interim El Toro program manager.

But El Toro critics said that given the heated nature of the issue, the public should have been notified either by the FAA or the county.

“There’s an overall lack of trust by the public toward the county and a lack of respect for the people’s right to know in this whole process,” said Meg Waters, a spokeswoman for the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, a coalition of eight cities opposed to the airport. “. . . What are they afraid of?”

The FAA did not know how long the overall evaluation process would take and when the results would become public.

The assessment comes a month after a judge ruled that Measure F, the anti-airport initiative overwhelmingly approved by county voters last March, was unconstitutional. Though the decision will likely be appealed, Smith said the county will go forward with El Toro’ airport planning.

At a special meeting today, supervisors will consider approving $1.1 million from profits at John Wayne Airport to pay Washington lobbyists for efforts to have authority over the base transferred to the county.