Options for LAX safety

Re “Expedited LAX runway review urged,” Dec. 17

One option for making LAX safer appears to be missing from the list under consideration. A new taxiway could be added to the north of the most northerly runway instead of moving the runway itself. A new north taxiway, with offramps from the existing north runway, would allow landing aircraft to leave the runway without crossing the middle of the runway to the south. This option does not address the desire to have more separation between runways to reduce the possibility of approach accidents, but it does address the urgent and direct need to reduce runway incursions. Adding a taxiway instead of moving a runway would be less costly, could be done more quickly and would have less effect on noise.

Kerry Nock

Duarte

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Currently, aircraft land on the outer runways and take off on the inner ones. This means that landing aircraft have to cut in front of departing planes to get to the terminals. Human error, unfortunately, is common. It seems to me safer for arriving aircraft to land on the inner runways and for departing planes to cross to the outside at the head of the runway. If one crosses without permission, the arriving aircraft has the kinetic energy to go around again, and human error is less likely because the action is taking place at a fixed location in a well-defined rhythm.

I doubt that moving the runways would have any effect at all on safety, while procedural changes could bring a big improvement.

James F. Carter

Los Angeles