Dangerous Airport Development

In 1991, the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, analyzed National Transportation Safety Board reports on 400 arrival and departure accidents involving general aviation aircraft at airports in the United States from 1983 to 1991.

In the figure on the right, red circles show the locations of those accidents which occurred near the end of the runway. Each circle's location on the diagram shows the accident's location relative to the end of the runway which the aircraft was using for departure or landing.

Also shown on this figure is a blue trapezoid which encompasses most of the accident locations in the figure. This area is established by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and is called the Runway Protection Zone (RPZ).

A RPZ is required for each end of each active runway and its size is determined by the type of landing approach used for that runway. The RPZ depicted in this figure is one defined for a "precision instrument approach" runway which uses an Instrument Landing System (ILS).

The purpose of the RPZ is to protect people and property on the ground from harm caused by approach and departure accidents. It does this by requiring the airport operator to restrict uses of RPZ land under its control to those compatible with airport operations. The importance of this responsibility is clearly illustrated by the fact that 12% of all aircraft arrival or departure accidents in the UCB study occured within the area of the RPZ.

FAA Advisory Circular 150-5300 defines the requirements for public-use airports and identifies land uses prohibited from the RPZ. Residences, churches, schools, hospitals, office buildings, shopping centers, and other uses with similar concentrations of persons are prohibited.

The airport operator is responsible for control over the RPZ and is responsible for clearing RPZ areas (and maintaining them clear) of incompatible objects and activities. The operator of the Torrance Airport, the City of Torrance, has control over 57% of the RPZ for runway 29R. The remaining 43% is controlled by the City of Lomita.

At Torrance Airport, there have been five approach or departure accidents in the last 20 years which occurred within the RPZs. There were no injuries to people on the ground because those accidents ocurred in open and undeveloped areas of the RPZs.

In the figure at the left, the RPZ for ILS runway 29R at the Torrance Airport is depicted. A number of incompatible and prohibited land uses have been permitted by the City of Torrance in this area. Approximately 8% of the RPZ is currently leased and in use for shopping centers, office buildings and retail businesses. The City of Lomita has allowed its portion of the RPZ to be developed as residential housing (shown in gray in the figure).

In September of 1997, the Torrance City Council discussed plans to lease additional RPZ property (shown in red cross-hatching in the figure) for development as a retail auto sales and service business. This area, ranging from 200 to 1500 feet from the runway's end, would increase the incompatible and prohibited uses to over 58% of the RPZ!

The City of Torrance has encouraged and permitted prohibited and incompatible uses of the RPZ land under its control. It has neglected its responsibility, as airport operator, for clearing RPZ areas (and maintaining them clear) of incompatible objects and activities. We, the taxpayers, have been lucky so far!

We believe the City of Torrance should immediately cease efforts to use the RPZ property for activities which are incompatible and clearly prohibited by the FAA. The City should also take immediate steps to clear the RPZ of those existing activities.