Catalina’s Airport in the Sky
By Erik McCarthyThe city of Avalon surrounds beautiful Avalon Bay on the southeast end of Catalina Island.It was an ominous start to the day. I thought I had left early enough to get to the airport by the appointed time, but I forgot that every weekend everyone from LA goes to San Diego, and everyone from San Diego goes to LA, and there’s really only one way to get there: the 5 Freeway which, despite its 4 to 6 lanes, can’t adequately handle that much traffic; southbound traffic came to a screeching halt at the Oceanside VOR.My gracious host waited patiently by his Cherokee Six for my delayed arrival - “No worries…”The weather, while passable VFR (read: marginal) at Palomar (KCRQ), was improving as my tardiness wore on – an acceptable trade off.Bill and I had been discussing Catalina’s Grand Re-Opening following its runway reconstruction by the Marines, when I casually mentioned that I still hadn’t been there yet. A visit to The Airport in the Sky(KAVX) is seen as a “rite of passage” in Southern California – a must-do – and I’ve been here in California for six years now…“We’ve got to fix that! Wanna go Saturday?”Um, yes I do!Bill had made a reservation several weeks in advance of the event, which was expected to draw a hundred or so aircraft, and wanted to get there early to beat the crowd. He’d been there several times, including their “soft” re-opening a couple of weeks earlier, and was very familiar with AVX’s notorious mountaintop runway. This would be a great “introduction” for me.Catalina’s airport was commissioned by the Wrigley family in 1940; William Wrigley Jr., of chewing gum fame, bought the island 100 years ago and set about to make it a resort area. Hollywood filmed many movies on the island and, in addition to Catalina’s natural beauty, Wrigley attracted visitors by bringing his Chicago Cubs to Avalon for spring training, a practice that lasted 30 years.The airport was created by lopping the tops off two mountains and using the debris to fill in the valley between them. At an elevation of 1,602-feet MSL, it’s not unusual for the airport to be above the cloud deck obscuring the rest of the island, hence the “Airport in the Sky.”Unfortunately, when they built it they didn’t level it off and AVX has a well-known “hump” in the runway that creates the illusion that the runway is shorter than it really is. It’s also not level, rising for about the first two-thirds of the length of runway 22 before leveling off. The combination has resulted in several planes overrunning the runways over the years, often with disastrous results. There’s no room for error as the runway ends abruptly at both ends with precipitous downslopes – often referred to as “cliffs.”
In addition to the inherent problems with the runway as it’s situated, it had also fallen into disrepair over the years, with crumbling asphalt and potholes greeting landing pilots. The Marines and Navy Seabees (Construction Battalion) were called in late last year to rebuild the runway as a training exercise – a fortuitous confluence of needs: Catalina Island Conservancy needed a new runway and the Marines and Seabees needed practice building one, with all the attendant logistics problems such a project on a remote island entails. Encamped at the airport for about four months, the military completed the project, tearing out the old asphalt runway and pouring a new concrete one in its place. It’s still a bit bumpy – the concrete expansion joints are quite noticeable – but I’m told it’s a vast improvement over what had been there before.Our flight began with us picking our way through a cloud layer on the Alpha North departure from Palomar. Once on top of the clouds, we were looking at a layer that appeared to stretch to the horizon… not what we were hoping for. We decided we’d continue on to take a look and reexamine our options when we got closer. As we traveled north at 4,500-feet offshore of the Marine Corps’ Camp Pendleton, we began to see holes in the cloud deck, but we still couldn’t see any sign of Catalina just 25 or so miles away. Turning west at DANAH, we tuned in Catalina‘s ASOS and listened to the automated report of marginal, but improving, conditions at the airfield. We soldiered on following the magenta line on our ForeFlight map, hoping for a break in the clouds.The clouds started to break about halfway across the Gulf of Santa Catalina and a large hole opened before us, enabling us to slip under the cloud deck at around 3000 feet as we approached the rugged shoreline. The sun started to break through illuminating the bare cliffs of the quarry just south of Avalon. Listening for traffic, we weren’t surprised that there was none on the radio; but we kept our eyes peeled for the possibility of someone not announcing on the uncontrolled field’s CTAF. Flying north along the island’s coastline, Bill expertly guided us as we snuck in under the overcast and touched down on the upslope of runway 22.We taxied off the runway and were marshaled to a dirt parking area near the terminal building. Bill wisely used the lowest power possible to keep moving, not wanting to pick up small pebbles that might ding or nick the propeller. With a front row parking spot, we’d be able to pull the plane forward onto the tarmac for engine start later.I’m usually very good with directions and getting my bearings, but for some reason I was discombobulated there at the airport, most likely the result of the persistent low overcast and occasional fog that obscured the sun and prevented me from seeing the mainland. I just couldn’t get myself oriented. Avalon’s that direction? Behind the tower, really?Another trip there will surely cure that…
Climbing the stairs of the airport’s historic tower, Bill paid the landing fee of $35, which he was later able to apply to a Conservancy Membership which includes an annual landing pass – a good cause and a good deal if you plan to fly to the island more than a few times. I enjoyed the view, surveying the airport and surrounding area. Never having been there, I was curious to see if we’d encounter any of the wildlife the island is known for, and sure enough, we spotted a lone buffalo about a quarter mile from the airport a little while later. I’m told they’re rarely alone – there were probably others hidden from view behind the trees. The buffalo were brought to the island for a movie production in the 1920’s, and left there, at one point growing to a population of about 600; the Conservancy now manages the herd and maintains the population at around 150 of the one-ton critters.We enjoyed a nice barbecued hamburger for lunch on the back patio at the renowned DC-3 Grill which is known for serving Buffalo Burgers (now you know how they cull the herd), but they weren’t on the menu for the event; next time… Throughout the day the Conservancy raffled off a bunch of nice gifts for attendees and there were several booths arranged on the airport grounds displaying information and island wares. Aircraft continued to stream in as the weather began to clear, and we were treated to a flyover by the Tiger Squadron – a half dozen Chinese Nanchang trainers and a Yak (I think) in formation – smoke on!They never quite reached the 100 plane mark, but there were probably 50 or so planes there by noon. By early afternoon the weather had cleared considerably and we decided to depart – more clouds were expected later in the afternoon. Before heading home, Bill gave me a guided tour as we circled the island, taking in the spectacular scenery. The turquoise waters of Twin Harbors were stunning – looking more like the Caribbean than the Pacific. We saw evidence of fresh landslides along the dramatic 1,000-foot cliffs on the backside of Catalina – fresh mud blossoming into the sea; several small secluded bays where adventurous sailors had moored their boats; and the Casino and bustling harbor at Avalon; beautiful sights to see from the air.Our visit to Catalina was interesting for a number of reasons, not least of which was witnessing a near catastrophe…
Baron near-disaster
When I started this column a few years ago, one of my goals was to provide “lessons learned.” I always envisioned they’d be examples of my own mistakes, or something I could have done better, over the course of my flying experience, but witnessing a near-disaster I think qualifies for examination as well.The weather and clouds ebbed and flowed throughout the day at the airport, with the east end of the runway sometimes engulfed in fog while the west end remained clear despite, or perhaps because of, a continual light breeze from the southwest. With the prevailing winds out of the southwest, the “default” runway at AVX is 22, providing a slightly uphill landing to help dissipate speed once you’ve touched down. But when the east end was engulfed in cloud, the only way to get in was to land on 4 with both a light tailwind and a downhill runway. For most planes this wasn’t a problem; the breeze was light and as long as you touch down on the first third of the runway, at 3,000-feet there’s plenty of room to roll out.
Nonetheless, these conditions led to a near-disaster as a Baron approaching from the west had to go around when he realized he was way too fast, plunging him into the clouds that hung off the end of the runway. His second attempt was closer to on-speed, but he hadn’t touched down in the first third of the runway, and when he forced the landing, he bounced several times before locking up the brakes and skidding the last 1000-plus feet, ending with what we assumed was an intentional ground-loop to prevent going over the edge of the steep slope at the end of the runway, which would have almost certainly resulted in fatalities. We heard the tires pop as it squealed down the runway, then the plane spun 180-degrees. The pilot gunned the engines to arrest the now backwards slide and the plane came to a stop about 50 feet from the cliff edge. A very close call!The plane did suffer a tail-strike when it finally came to a stop and, rocking back on its tail, broke the tiedown and crinkled the empennage. Unfortunately, the airport pick-up truck dispatched to tow the plane off the runway snapped the nose gear off when the plane’s flattened tires (and wheels) encountered the soft soil adjacent to the runway, making a bad day worse for the pilot. Fortunately, the way the plane collapsed on the nose gear saved the props from hitting the ground – the damage already done would be expensive enough!I think there could have been several factors that played into this scenario – a “perfect storm” of conditions and responses that nearly led to a catastrophe:Get-there-it is: If we’re honest, we’ve all experienced it at some point and we’ve got to remain vigilant to make sure we don’t succumb to it again! Pilots are mission-oriented by nature – we’re “can-do” people – when we take on a task, we expect to complete it. And that can sometimes trip us up, leading us to take on unnecessary risks to complete our mission. At the risk of stating the obvious: it’s not worth dying for; yes, you may ‘die’ of embarrassment, but at least you’ll be there to experience it!
Airport Configuration: Landing on runway 4 meant landing with a light tailwind and a downhill runway – not ideal, especially in an aircraft with an over-the-fence approach speed of about 100kts. That’s quite a bit faster than your average 172 or Cherokee and demands greater precision of the pilot, especially if landing downwind and downhill on a relatively short runway.Weather: His first attempt, which really wasn’t even close, resulted in the Baron punching into the fog that hung like a curtain at the end of the runway in full landing configuration: gear and flaps down. I’m sure he was instrument rated, but to plunge into the clouds so quickly at the end of the runway could certainly be unnerving, especially knowing there are other aircraft in the area. At least he was headed out over sharply descending terrain leading to the Pacific where he would be at least 1,600 feet above the waves. One could certainly understand why he wouldn’t want to do that again, given the choice.Second attempt: Rejecting the first attempt could easily be chalked up to good judgment – hey, Maverick did it in Top Gun; if it’s just not feeling right, go around, try again. But we expect to learn from our first attempt, and get things right the next time. Others made it in – there’s even a King Air there on the ground…(Of course, the King Air had Beta and probably made it in on 22 before the weather changed…) No one likes to “fail,” but to do it twice? With a passenger? Embarrassing… especially if there’s…People watching: Peer pressure, real or perceived, can make us do things we know we shouldn’t. Everyone knows that when you go to an event like this where pilots are gathered, they’re all watching each plane coming in, silently – or maybe not so silently – judging the skills of the landing pilot. It’s an occupational hazard: we all want to show those mere mortals that we have total control over our flying machines – Bob Hoover’s got nothing on us! Of course it often doesn’t turn out that way. I’ve bounced my way past an adoring crowd way too many times but it usually doesn’t involve a near-death experience.I’m speculating here becasue I didn’t talk to the pilot after the incident but I bet at least a couple of these factors came into play, consciously or subconsciously. And I don’t mean to cast aspersions on this pilot – he’s flying a Baron – clearly more accomplished than me! I just think there are lessons we can all learn from this incident. Hindsight is 20/20 of course, but the weather was forecast to improve as the day went on and it eventually did; had he opted to take a lap around the island before trying again, he may have found better conditions, possibly even the option of landing on 22. That may have taken a couple of laps, but forcing the landing, downwind and downhill, was clearly not optimal, and he ended up with a bent plane for his efforts, and almost a much worse ending. As has been quoted many times: “Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect.”Fortunately no one was injured. The pilot, and his passenger were very lucky men!As for lessons learned – well, I think Bill summed it up best: you can always go around.Until next time: fly safe!
