Winds Could Close El Toro, Pilots Say

As its runways are now configured, a commercial airport at El Toro could be closed several days a year because of winds and poor visibility, according to an analysis by the nation’s largest airline pilots union.

The conclusion raises safety concerns and serious doubts about whether airlines would choose to operate from a weather-restricted airfield at the retired Marine base, just seven miles from John Wayne Airport.

Orange County planners have acknowledged that gusty winds from the south could make it too dangerous for planes to land at El Toro over Laguna Woods, as intended. The county’s alternative calls for planes to land from the north over Anaheim Hills during windy or stormy conditions.

But commercial navigation charts produced in January by the Federal Aviation Administration reveal flaws in the county’s proposal.

The FAA charts, obtained by The Times, show that pilots could land from the north at El Toro only in picture-postcard weather, with at least three miles of visibility and a cloud ceiling above 1,075 feet. That minimum landing requirement is nearly six times more restrictive than the visibility rules at John Wayne and Los Angeles International airports.

“It makes no sense at all,” said Wally Roberts, a San Clemente resident who is technical liaison on El Toro for the Air Line Pilots Assn.

Pilots are nervous about El Toro because it is surrounded by rising hills to the north and east. There are no similar obstacles near John Wayne Airport, so commercial planes can land there with only half a mile of visibility and cloud cover as low as 200 feet. When winds are especially bad at John Wayne, airplanes can land from the south with no additional restrictions.

Planes can land at LAX in virtually any weather.

The latest safety concerns come as the pilots union has intensified lobbying over El Toro in recent weeks. Union members say they support building an airport at the former base, just not the one Orange County officials have planned.

In an effort to improve safety guidelines at the proposed airport, the pilots union wants the county to bar takeoffs to the east because of the hills. They also want the county to install an instrument landing system that would allow flights over Irvine--a flight path currently excluded in the county’s plan. The city of Irvine and the Irvine Co. strongly oppose flights over Irvine.

The landing procedures for airliners using El Toro were developed by the FAA’s western flight procedures development branch in Oklahoma City and sent to the pilots union for review in January. The proposed procedures were to be published starting Thursday, but publication has since been halted.

“It was pulled back, for reasons I don’t know,” said Roberts, a retired TWA pilot who works with pilots union safety representative Jon Russell.

FAA officials did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The county’s El Toro planners said they were unaware that flight procedures had been released--and then withdrawn--by the FAA. County officials said they have had no input into when the navigation charts would be published.

County Says FAA Will See to Safety

County officials downplayed the pilots’ concerns. Planners have long insisted that the FAA will determine safe procedures for the airport, based on the county’s plan. The county will take its final vote on the airport this fall.

“We haven’t received any notification from the FAA regarding their procedures,” El Toro spokesman John Christensen said.

Planners have urged both sides of the airport debate to let the process take its course. They warned that existing opposition from pilots and air-traffic controllers, plus potential opposition by the airlines, could create pressure on the county to change proposed operations at the airport--a move that could end up hurting others concerned about noise and overflights.

Another key issue raised by the pilots union and others is the fate of John Wayne.

The pilots believe John Wayne Airport should be closed so jets from the two airports don’t interfere with one another. In addition, the Air Transport Assn., which represents the nation’s major carriers, has said for years the airlines won’t set up shop at both airports.

So far, criticism about El Toro has focused primarily on takeoffs.

The pilots union opposes the county’s plan for takeoffs to the east and to the north. Takeoffs to the east would send planes over hills and rising terrain; takeoffs to the north, in the county plan, would require planes to clear 800-foot-high Loma Ridge, three miles off the end of the runway.

The FAA’s proposed flight procedures for El Toro note that planes leaving toward the north would have to climb to 7,500 feet using a minimum climb rate of 450 feet per nautical mile. Such an ascent is too steep for many aircraft, including planes heavily loaded with fuel and passengers, Roberts said.

If planes must depart to the north, the pilots said, they should make an immediate left turn to avoid Loma Ridge, meaning the planes would fly over Orange and Tustin.

To date, the county has refused to consider allowing flights over Irvine or turning flights over central county cities, fearing aircraft noise would attract too much political opposition.