The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has joined a regional effort to secure $17 million in Federal funding to repair the cracked and deteriorated runway surface at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, the main entry point for rescue workers and disaster supplies that will come into LA County after a major disaster.
Although the base is located in Orange County, the runway at Los Alamitos is the only military facility between Ventura County and San Diego County that is able to accommodate large transport aircraft – the type needed for personnel and supply delivery after a disaster. The runway surface is cracked and deteriorated to a point where there are loose chunks which can be sucked into a jet engine and cause the engine to explode after ingestion. This condition recently caused Air Force One to land at Long Beach Airport instead of the more secure facility at Los Alamitos and will prevent planes full of disaster supplies from landing there unless it is repaired.
Under today’s action, Supervisor Don Knabe asked his colleagues to formally support the request for $17 million to repair the runway and give the Southern California region a fully functioning airfield during a disaster.