Jet Blast Disables Airport Instrument Landing Equipment

The blast of a jet engine has knocked out the instrument landing system at John Wayne Airport, raising the possibility that the airport will have to be closed during fog or rain.

A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said Friday that it will look into who was responsible for the incident, which occurred about 8:40 a.m. Thursday when an engine blast from an America West Boeing 757 blew apart a small red and white shed at the end of the runway that contained the instrument landing system.

The accident delayed 30 to 40 aircraft for various lengths of time and the airport’s main runway was closed during a two-hour cleanup, forcing passengers aboard two departing jetliners to return to the terminal.

Airport officials said the pilot failed to follow proper procedures by revving the engine too soon, before he had taxied the aircraft to a blue line marked on the runway. However, airport officials acknowledged that the pilot had permission from an unidentified air-traffic controller.

Test of Engine

Dick Shimizu, spokesman for Phoenix-based America West, said the pilot had received permission from the control tower to run an engine test and was directed to the spot where the test was run. After the test was completed, he said, the empty plane returned to the gate and left later on a routine flight. The pilot wanted to test the engines to see if a mechanical problem detected on an earlier flight had been corrected, and the test showed that it was, Shimizu said.

The equipment scattered over the end of the runway used a directional beacon to guide planes to safe landings in foul weather.

“I presume that there will be an investigation, but what we’re working at right now is to return the airport to the normal status,� said the FAA’s Joe Fowler, manager at the John Wayne control tower.

Fowler said he has no idea yet how much it will cost or how long it will take to replace the damaged equipment.

“All I can say is we’ve had other aircraft go into that area and (the ground equipment) suffered no damage . . . maybe he didn’t point his nose in the right direction.�

Billing to Be Decided

Airport officials said they intend to bill America West for the damage, but the FAA’s Fowler said that because the equipment belongs to the FAA, it will be up to that agency to decide how costs should be dealt with.

A backup instrument landing system has been out of service because of construction of the new, $50-million passenger terminal.

FAA spokesman Fred O’Donnell said the National Transportation Safety Board would probably investigate the incident, but NTSB officials said they were unaware of what happened and would leave the investigation to the FAA.

Fog closes John Wayne Airport to airline traffic infrequently, but when it does, flights are rerouted to Los Angeles, Ontario and Long Beach.