"FAA chief says LAX airfield must change"

Friday, August 24, 2007

FAA chief says LAX airfield must change
Citing safety and economic concerns, key official contends that moving the
north runways farther apart should be a top priority.
By Steve Hymon
The Los Angeles (CA) Times


In her strongest comments to date, Federal Aviation Administration chief
Marion Blakey said Thursday it's imperative that the north runways at Los
Angeles International Airport be moved farther apart before tragedy strikes.

"Get the north airfield project done," Blakey said at a luncheon at the LAX
Marriott sponsored by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. "It's an
issue of safety and efficiency and economic competitiveness." 

Blakey did not say if she supports a particular remedy for the north
airfield. Five studies commissioned by the airport earlier this year
suggested that LAX would be safer if the northernmost runway were moved more
than 300 feet north, putting it closer to the communities of Westchester and
Playa del Rey. 

The north airfield consists of two parallel runways; the one closest to LAX
terminals handles flights that are landing, while the one farthest away
handles takeoffs. They are about 700 feet apart.

This week, the city's Board of Airport Commissioners voted to ask the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Ames Research Center to
conduct a sixth study on the north runways. 

Controversy arose again when airport-area residents and the elected
officials who represent them said the board changed the study to focus less
on safety than on efficiency and commerce -- in particular, whether
reconfiguring the north runways would help LAX better handle more
next-generation jumbo jets, such as the Airbus A380.

On Thursday, three elected officials -- Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice), Los
Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe and Los Angeles City Councilman Bill
Rosendahl -- sent a letter to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, asking him to
ensure that all options are studied. 

Blakey is just weeks away from leaving her job to take a position in the
private sector as head of the Aerospace Industries Assn., a trade group. She
met with Villaraigosa before lunching with business leaders Thursday. 

During his 2005 campaign, Villaraigosa promised not to expand LAX.

Los Angeles World Airports chief Gina Marie Lindsey introduced Blakey at
Thursday's lunch, calling her one of the nation's foremost experts on
transportation safety and reminding the audience that she was once the head
of the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates airplane
accidents. 

Blakey told the audience that she views LAX as a facility that was once a
"crown jewel" of the nation's airports but now is in need of renovation and
safety fixes. 

Blakey praised elected leaders for recently moving the airport's southern
runways and building a taxiway in between. But she chided them for not
having done the same on the north runway, and for allowing LAX to continue
to lead the nation in near-collisions between planes on the ground.

 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php


*****************************************