Los Angeles International (LAX) is the site of one of the deadliest runway incursion accidents. On February 1, 1991, a US Air 737 plowed into a SkyWest Metroliner, killing 34. The crash underscored a problem that persists to this day in commercial aviation: the system doesn’t do a good enough job of separating aircraft on the ground.
This could help. Los Angeles International has opened Runway 25 Left/7 Right (airport runways are designated by their compass bearings). The $250-million strip is part of a $333-million South Airfield Improvement Program, an effort officials hope will improve safety at the busy airport.
Improvements were certainly needed at LAX. From 2000 through 2003 the airport had the highest number of incursions of any commercial airport in the country. In 2006, Los Angeles International tallied eight incursions. The Federal Aviation Administration says two of them had the serious potential to result in an accident. LAX has already racked up two incursions this year.
This is really a reopening of 25L. The old strip was demolished, and then relocated 55 critical feet to the south. The new runway is just as long, and just as wide as the one it replaced: 11,095-feet long, and 200-feet wide.
Next in line at LAX is a center taxiway that will run parallel to the two southern runways. Then come connecting taxiways linking the southern runways to the new center taxiway. It will take about 18 months to complete the work.
While Runway 25L was under construction, LAX controllers were able to run a relatively tight ship. On-time performance was not, contends the airport, affected all that much. Less than a half of one percent of all the airport’s flights were delayed because of the work.
© Cheapflights Ltd Jerry Chandler
