BURBANK STOKES FEAR OF JET NOISE IN GLENDALE.

Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer

Burbank city officials have raised a new specter in their campaign against Burbank Airport expansion - the proposed new terminal site could open the door to commercial flights over Glendale.

Since 1986, the Federal Aviation Administration has banned eastern takeoff by commercial airline jets because the runway is too close to the airport terminal. But, as Burbank officials have recently pointed out, once the terminal is moved to the north, that problem will be solved.

Officials on both sides of the fight acknowledge that prevailing winds, the presence of the Verdugo Mountains, an army of incoming LAX planes and other conditions will likely make such takeoffs rare. However, they acknowledge that commercial pilots will have the option of an eastern takeoff once the terminal is moved.

``The new terminal physically opens the possibility for that to happen,'' said Burbank City Manager Robert ``Bud'' Ovrom. ``It opens the door.''

Airport and Glendale officials have responded angrily to Burbank officials who have pointed out the situation, suggesting they are attempting to mislead Glendale residents into thinking Burbank's jet noise problem will soon become Glendale's noise problem too.

``If you read the environmental impact report, it's at the discretion of the pilots. It says that runway may be used, not that it will be used,'' Glendale Airport Commissioner Jerry Briggs said at a recent homeowners group meeting where the issue was broached.

``If I were them I'd be worried about that `may,' '' Ovrom said.

Burbank officials support the relocation and expansion of the passenger terminal, but only if they can secure such protections as curfews and noise restrictions. The expansion would enable the airport to handle about 10 million passengers a year, twice its current capacity.

The nine-member Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority has three members from each city, and Burbank has been campaigning for Glendale's support.

Will fly to east

Burbank Vice Mayor Stacey Murphy said she believes that if pilots have the option of taking off to the east, they will use it.

``If a pilot has a choice of where to take off and he's got to wait 10 to 15 minutes to take off on the north-south runway, if they can take off on the east-west runway, I think they'll do it,'' Murphy said. ``If they build a new terminal, obviously there will be more flights to pay for the debt service. They will need all the runway space.''

Victor Gill, a spokesman for Burbank Airport, said the issue of eastern takeoffs over Glendale is political and not at all based in reality.

``The report says there will be no significant change in runway patterns as a result of moving the terminal,'' Gill said.

He acknowledges that the FAA has said the ban on eastern takeoffs could possibly be lifted once the terminal is moved. However, airport officials have not weighed in on whether they will even ask for the ban to be lifted.

``The technical possibility is that the total ban on (eastern) takeoffs could revert back to a historical pattern,'' Gill said.

But that historical pattern hardly ever included flights over Glendale, Gill insisted. Before 1986, he estimated 1 to 5 percent of the commercial flights out of the airport took off from the eastbound runway, and those were circling over Burbank and heading back west toward North Hollywood before going toward Palmdale and their ultimate destination.

Even fewer flights than that headed east over Glendale from the eastbound runway, Gill said.

Those eastern flights that did go over Glendale used a route over south Glendale after passing over the intersection of the Ventura and Golden State freeways. But the FAA banned the route's use by commercial and larger private aircraft in 1984 because the planes were taking off into the return path of jets heading into Los Angeles, Gill said.

The vast majority of the flights on the route were actually originating from the north-south runway and then swinging east over south Glendale. Before the route was banned, about 20 percent of the airport's planes used the route originating from the north-south runway. And even before the eastbound bans were put in place, jet noise was not a major issue in Glendale, Gill said.

Selective ban

As for why Glendale residents sometimes see planes flying overhead, Gill said the bans only apply to larger aircraft and commercial planes.

While airport officials have emphatically avoided ever telling pilots which flight path to use, Gill said Murphy's suggestion that the pilots will want to use the eastbound runway for convenience doesn't make sense.

``They would be using a runway that is 1,000 feet shorter, would be heading into the mountains, in a direction away from the flow of air traffic and into unfavorable winds,'' Gill said.

Airports, airlines and the FAA are typically opposed to changing around flight paths, Gill said. In addition, the airport is able to use current paths because of easements over the airspace surrounding Burbank. Adding new flight paths that have no historical basis is not in the airport's interest, he said.

``We would inherently be creating a new noise area. It would be the onset of a brand-new nuisance,'' Gill said. ``It would open up the airport to liability.''