Coast Tracon

Government safety officials said Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration's "failure to address and correct" air traffic control deficiencies and problems contributed to a narrow miss between two airliners over Orange County last February. The National Transportation Safety Board said an investigation of the Coast Terminal Radar Approach Control, or TRACON, facility at the El Toro Marine Corps Air station showed that FAA management personnel had verified and documented these problems over the last 3 years, but had taken no remedial action.

Sudden power surges and possible human error were blamed Tuesday for two outages that crippled a key Southern California air traffic control center Monday night and delayed 12 flights out of John Wayne Airport. Hundreds of passengers aboard three air taxis and nine airline flights were forced to wait after Federal Aviation Administration officials decided that incoming flights could land but that no departures would be allowed during the outages.

Two power outages Monday night left Orange County air traffic controllers at Coast Terminal Radar Control "in the dark" and without communication with incoming and outgoing aircraft for nearly two hours, officials said. Coast Tracon, which regulates air traffic from the ground to 13,000 feet, has a jurisdiction extending from Torrance to Oceanside and from El Toro to Santa Catalina Island, excluding air traffic within a 5-mile radius of airports. That area is regulated by an airport's own tower.

Two power outages Monday night left Orange County air traffic controllers at Coast Terminal Radar Control "in the dark" and without communication with incoming and outgoing aircraft for nearly two hours, officials said. Coast Tracon, which regulates air traffic from the ground to 13,000 feet, has a jurisdiction extending from Torrance to Oceanside and from El Toro to Santa Catalina Island, excluding air traffic within a 5-mile radius of airports. That area is regulated by an airport's own tower.

The near-collision of two jetliners over Orange County on Feb. 13 has prompted federal officials to consider changes in air traffic control for much of Southern California, officials said Monday. The National Transportation Safety Board is meeting today to consider the results and recommendations from a staff investigation into the "loss of standard separation" between a British Airways jumbo jet and an American Airlines jetliner Feb. 13 above Westminster. The planes came within 1.9 miles of each other, both at 9,000 feet.

Government safety officials said Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration's "failure to address and correct" air traffic control deficiencies and problems contributed to a narrow miss between two airliners over Orange County last February. The National Transportation Safety Board said an investigation of the Coast Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facility at the Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro showed that FAA management personnel had verified and documented the problems over the last three years but took no remedial action.

Federal officials reported Monday that John Wayne Airport ranks seventh in the nation in near midair collisions involving commercial airliners over the last three years. The disclosure came only hours after the airport's lastest near-tragedy, in which a United Express twin-engine turboprop with 18 people aboard passed within 200 feet of a small plane over Seal Beach on Sunday night.

Operations at the regional air traffic control center in El Toro were back to normal Wednesday, Federal Aviation Administration officials said, after a series of computer outages was traced to vital components more than a dozen years old. The FAA's explanation came after air traffic controllers told The Times on Tuesday that a new multimillion-dollar computer system installed 2 1/2 months ago had failed 104 times on Sunday, endangering air safety.

Air safety officials said Tuesday that there were three close calls involving Orange County air traffic controllers who alerted pilots in time to avoid mid-air collisions on Sunday. The latest confirmed incident, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, involved an American Airlines MD-80 plane descending to John Wayne Airport about 10 miles north of the runway. An unnamed air traffic controller based at the Coast Terminal Radar Approach Control facility in El Toro alerted the jetliner pilot in time for the plane to take evasive action.

Alarm rather than concern manifested itself as we read Jeffrey Perlman's article "Up There, It's Always 'Rush Hour' " (Sept. 7). The following excerpts disturbed us greatly: "Big jets share airspace with small planes that do not have to be in two-way communication with anyone, and do not have to be equipped with transponders, the electronic devices that help controllers see the planes on radar." "Workloads for Coast Tracon (Terminal Radar Approach Control) have increased dramatically, and overtime has risen tenfold."

The use of computer systems based on old technology could make a planned new Southern California aircraft tracking facility obsolete even before it opens, the U.S. General Accounting Office said in a report issued this week. As a result, air traffic controllers may find their radar screens flickering, showing insufficient data or blanking out at key moments, the report states.

In an effort to make the Southern California skies safer, federal aviation officials announced Monday that they will use Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego as the location for a radar approach center for air traffic control, consolidating four facilities in Los Angeles, Burbank, Ontario and El Toro. The new 100,000-square-foot center, which will be built on Navy land, will direct air traffic in a 30,000-square-mile area from Ontario to Santa Catalina and Burbank to Oceanside.

An Alaska Airlines jetliner swerved to miss a light plane by only 150 feet as the airliner was coming in for a landing Saturday at Long Beach Airport, according to the pilot of the jetliner. The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday that a collision was avoided when controllers at the Coast Terminal Radar Control facility in El Toro advised the pilot of the Seattle-to-Long Beach flight that the small plane appeared to be dangerously close and the pilot made a 30-degree turn to the left.

Federal officials reported Monday that John Wayne Airport ranks seventh in the nation in near midair collisions involving commercial airliners over the last three years. The disclosure came only hours after the airport's lastest near-tragedy, in which a United Express twin-engine turboprop with 18 people aboard passed within 200 feet of a small plane over Seal Beach on Sunday night.

"Quantas 17, descend to 6,500 immediately, unidentified traffic at 12 o'clock," air traffic controller Jim Burgan calmly tells the pilot of a Boeing 747 inbound to Los Angeles International Airport from Australia. A small plane previously unseen on Burgan's radar scope has just popped up in front of the jumbo jet over San Pedro Channel. The planes, more than three miles apart, separate as ordered.

Operations at the regional air traffic control center in El Toro were back to normal Wednesday, Federal Aviation Administration officials said, after a series of computer outages was traced to vital components more than a dozen years old. The FAA's explanation came after air traffic controllers told The Times on Tuesday that a new multimillion-dollar computer system installed 2 1/2 months ago had failed 104 times on Sunday, endangering air safety.

Enforcement of a new air safety zone around John Wayne Airport has been delayed at least 2 months to allow time to hire more air traffic controllers at an already understaffed controllers' facility in El Toro, Federal Aviation Administration officials said Wednesday. Implementation of the new Airport Radar Service Area, or ARSA, in which pilots must be in two-way radio communication with air traffic controllers, is being postponed from July 27 to some time after Sept. 21, according to FAA spokeswoman Elly Brekke.

Timely warnings by air traffic controllers averted two potential midair collisions this weekend between small aircraft and jetliners bound for Orange County, federal officials said Monday. In one incident, an American Airlines jet with 44 passengers aboard on final approach to John Wayne Airport descended quickly to avoid a small plane over Santa Ana. Air traffic controllers estimated that the two aircraft missed one another by 200 feet.

Enforcement of a new air safety zone around John Wayne Airport has been delayed at least 2 months to allow time to hire more air traffic controllers at an already understaffed controllers' facility in El Toro, Federal Aviation Administration officials said Wednesday. Implementation of the new Airport Radar Service Area, or ARSA, in which pilots must be in two-way radio communication with air traffic controllers, is being postponed from July 27 to some time after Sept. 21, according to FAA spokeswoman Elly Brekke.

Government safety officials said Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration's "failure to address and correct" air traffic control deficiencies and problems contributed to a narrow miss between two airliners over Orange County last February. The National Transportation Safety Board said an investigation of the Coast Terminal Radar Approach Control, or TRACON, facility at the El Toro Marine Corps Air station showed that FAA management personnel had verified and documented these problems over the last 3 years, but had taken no remedial action.