Los-angeles-international-airport

Running head: LOS ANGELES AIRPORT 1

Los Angeles Airport

Student Name

Institutional Affiliation

LOS ANGELES AIRPORT 2

The Organization Background

The Los Angeles International airport is located just 15 miles south-west of the Los

Angeles city and 10 miles to the west of Hollywood. According to the international standards,

the Los Angeles airport is designed to give its customers the best travel experience in terms of

comfort, accessibility, security, and the application of modern technology in most of its

operations. The airport has 9 terminals located centrally within short distances from each other.

However, in case that a traveler wants to transfer from one terminal to another, the airport offers

free transport using the LAX shuttles. There also ground transport channels that transport the

travelers from the city center to the airport. The airport is owned and operated by the Los

Angeles World Airports (LAWA); the city aviation department. This agency plays a critical role

of organizing the air transport to demand passenger and cargo transport within the region of

Southern California. The Los Angeles World Airports is an autonomous agency is managed by a

board of directors consisting of seven board members who are appointed by the city mayor and

forwarded for approval by the Los Angeles City Council.

Additionally, the core mandates of this agency are steered by a workforce of around

35,000 staff members who are the administrative officers, security personnel, and the technical

team that is responsible for maintaining the airport and its entire aviation related system. The Los

Angeles International Airport is served by the most famous airlines in the world. These include

the British Airways, the Saudia flights, the Etihad Airways, the SWISS flights, the Delta flights,

the Lufthansa flights, the Turkish airlines, the China Southern Airlines, the Ethiopian Airlines,

the Qatar Airways, the American Airlines, the Emirates Flights, the Air France, and the KLM

flights. These airlines travel around the world to serve all the major cities including Dubai,

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London, Mumbai, Tokyo, Karachi, Guangzhou, Delhi, Beijing, Moscow, Seoul, New York,

Jakarta, and Sao Paulo among others.

Security Screening of Passengers and Cargo

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is the agency responsible for the

security screening of passengers and cargo at the Los Angeles International Airport. The agency

has applied modern information technology systems to increase the efficiency of the screening

process for the passengers and their cargo before getting allowed through the airport. The most

notable application of modern technology in that the TSA has implemented to ensure the security

operations at the airport is the use of facial recognition technology to reduce the time taken for

security clearance by automating the process of identification and verification of the boarding

passes for the travelers. Additionally, the system allows for use of biometric recognition system

to screen the passengers who are already ticketed for international flights.

Due to the security risks related to terrorism and transport of weapons, the Transport

Security Administration has installed additional security systems such as the Advanced Imaging

Technology (IAT) for conducting full body scans and sending back a corrective feedback to the

security personnel to alert in case of any unusual threats detected. The functionality of these

scanning systems to ensure that the cargo and passengers do not risk the security of other airport

users is based on the ability of the system to scan the boarding passes and passports to activate

the automated cameras that take photos of the passenger (Price & Forrest, 2016). The luggage is

passed through an infrared scanning system that can identify the presence of weapons, drugs, or

any other illegal substances by recording the variations in the density of the luggage based on

some pre-recorded parameters. This technology makes it possible for the passengers to move

faster through the security checkpoints since the security systems are integrated with the

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conveyor belts and the X-ray machines that are programmed to divert any luggage that may have

prohibited items. The TSA is dedicated to the incorporation of enhanced security capabilities in

the security screening at the Los Angeles Airport to ensure the safety of all airport users.

Legal Actions to Ensure Security

The Airport Noise Control Land Use Compatibility is among the issues of great concern

during the establishment of an airport. This is with regard to the need for protecting the

community living around the airport from the noise by aircrafts as well as ensuring that the land

use around the airport is safe for landing and taking off. Therefore, protection of the airspace

from obstruction is also put under serious consideration during the airport planning. The

communities living around the Los Angeles International Airport are also subject to the impacts

of aircraft noise on their well-being. The federal government agency coordinates with the Federal

Aviation Administration and the Civil Aeronautics Board to formulate and enact various

legislative laws to protect the residents of Los Angeles city from noise pollution and also to

ensure that the airport is safe for airplanes to land (Stevens et al., 2004). The laws for airspace

protection are concerned with the erection of tall buildings in the areas surrounding the airport to

allow the pilots have a clear view of the landing space.

For instance, The Compatible Land Use title formulated by the United States Code 47107

in the year 1964 requires that all airports should be planned strategically such that appropriate

and reasonable action to safeguard the communities from the noise by the planes should be

subject to the adoption of land zoning laws that regulate the land use in the immediate

surroundings of the airport. This seeks to ensure that the activities and general purposes for

which the land is used are compatible with the routine operation of the airport. Additionally, a

Noise Compatibility Regulation was implemented to ensure that all activities regarding land use

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in the vicinity of the airport remain within the jurisdiction of the applicable noise compatibility

measures. The Federal Aviation Laws state that any form of land use in the areas surrounding the

airport that may present any form of hazards limiting the airport utility and navigation resulting

in flight path obstruction should be restricted.

The legal government actions taken to establish the runway use preferences with regard

to the approach and departure from the airport are regulated through the Airspace Protection

Regulation (APR) of 1996 that states the need for ensuring that the land use within the Los

Angeles International Airport. The law states that all approach and departure paths should be

protected with regard to the Obstacle Limitation Surface (OLS) that ensures the efficiency of all

visual flight procedures within the airport (Stewart & Mueller, 2017). Additionally, the Federal

government laws have enacted the laws to ensure the streamlining the Procedures for Air

Navigation Systems Operations whose mandate is to manage and regulate the obstacle limitation

surfaces.

The federal laws regulating the availability of landfills and wetlands within the areas

surrounding airports have also been applied in the Los Angeles Airport to prevent the airspace

obstruction from flocks of birds that may find their habitat within the water bodies. The

community residing around the airport is protected by noise by helping them to install

soundproofing gadgets on their houses and building not too close to the airport. Consequently,

the communities are restricted from any form of land use that may result in smoke or steam

which is hazardous to the flight safety. All of the federal laws regarding the safeguarding of the

airspace and protection of the community residing around the airport are regulated by Federal

Aviation Administration.

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The federal government power coordinates with the Civil Aviation authorities such as the

Federal Aviation Administration to enact laws and regulations that seek to ensure the airspace

protection as well as ensuring that the community living around the airport is safe from excessive

noise pollution. Additionally, the Federal government has empowered the agency responsible for

airspace protection with all the necessary resources to ensure that the airport system is

maintained to meet the required safety, efficiency, and the environmental protection standards.

According to the 2008 Noise compatibility program defined under section 47504 of the Aviation

Safety and Noise Abatement Act, the Federal Aviation Administration is legally empowered to

formulate and implement policies that seek to reduce the instances of non-compatible land use

within the vicinity of the Los Angeles International Airport. The forms of land use related to

reducing the impacts of aircraft noise on the communities around the airport are usually

contained in the Noise Exposure Maps (Transportation Security Administration, 2018).

Moreover, legislation framework is formulated and enacted in accordance to the Federal

Aviation Regulations that set the baseline standards for legal action to ensure the protection of

the community living around the Los Angeles International Airport as well as ensuring that the

airspace around the airport is free from obstruction.

The Area Surrounding the Los Angeles International Airport

The following is an illustration of the land use within the vicinity of Los Angeles

International Airport to ensure that the airspace around the airport is protected from obstruction.

This is with regard to any form of land use that may result in tall buildings, smoke, or water

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bodies that may cause airspace obstruction.

Drawing from the aerial photograph of the Los Angeles International Airport above, it’s

evident that the Federal Aviation Administration has successfully partnered with other

government agencies to ensure that there no tall buildings within a close range with the airport.

Additionally, the agency has regulated the proximity of the nearest buildings and the nature of

activities taking place within the premises to ensure that it does not contravene the set standards

of airspace security. The aerial photograph also outlines the measures taken to protect the

community from the impacts of noise pollution based on the design of houses in the areas

surrounding the airport. The housing structures have low-lying roofs to ensure that the rate of

sound absorption is significantly reduced.

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Airline Incidents Since 2000

Being an international airport, the Los Angeles Airport has not been without periodical

incidents owing to a large number of airlines causing traffic in the daily operations of the airport.

For instance, A jetliner MD-83 owned and operated by the Alaska Airlines requested an

emergency landing at the Los Angeles Airport after experiencing some technical problems on

31st Jan. 2000. However, the jetliner plummeted into the ocean before it could land resulting in

the death of around 88 people. Two years later in July 2002, there was an incidence of airport

shooting by a lone terrorist whose name was Hesham Mohamed Hadayet. This incident that

caused the death of two people was not directly associated with any terror group but was found

that the attack was motivated by political issues between the U.S and Israel. There was an

incidence of runway incursion in August 2007 whereby two planes one belonging to the West Jet

Flight 900 and the other plan belonging to the Northwest airlines operating on adjacent runways.

The planes were moving within a distance of 37 feet from each other carrying a total of 296

passengers. This was reported to be caused by controller error though the incident was mitigated

on time and no passenger was injured. Recently on October 2013, there were two attacks related

to launching of dry ice bombs at the Los Angeles International Airport. In both of these

incidents, no one was injured and two suspects were arrested on suspicion of having destructive

devices in the airport vicinity. This incident was found to have no relation to any acts of

terrorism. In the same year in September, A lone gunman attacked Terminal 3 of the LAX and

shot randomly killing one person and injuring three others. The incident was contained and the

gunman arrested within a short time though it caused delays for around 4 hours. The gunman’s

motive has not been identified.

Curbing the Noise and Safety Issues

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The issues relating to the airport safety and noise from the aircraft that is disturbing to the

communities surrounding the Los Angeles Airport have been the most pertinent in the history of

LAX. This is mainly due to the increase in the population of the community living around the

airport. However, the Federal Aviation Administration has taken measures such as directing most

of the landing and take-off flights through the Over-Ocean operations to minimize the instances

of the direct noise disturbance on the communities. Additionally, safety issues have been

addressed by ensuring that the airspace around the airport is free from obstruction from

structures that may pose dangers to landing aircraft or those that are taking off. This is to ensure

that there no chances of flight accidents around the airport that may have destructive effects on

the community.

Sustainability and Forecast of Air Traffic Demand

Being the regional gateway for international flights, the Los Angeles Airport is

committed to maintaining global standards for organizational performance with regard to

customer satisfaction, safety, and air traffic management. To ensure that the level of airport

activity is in accordance with the air traffic forecast depending on the present conditions at the

Los Angeles Airport, the management has implemented sustainable design and construction

policies focused on creating space for the airport to accommodate changes in expansion and air

traffic demand (Compatible Land Use and Airspace Protection, 2009). As a result, the LAX

airport has established the sustainability measures to ensure that it can effectively meet the

prerequisites for safe airport operations. In the current location, there is sufficient room for

expansion and long-term sustainability since the physical and structural requirements are already

fulfilled in the current setting.

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References

Transportation Security Administration. (2018). TSA, Los Angeles World Airports partner to

demonstrate state-of-the-art security technologies at LAX. [online] Available at:

https://www.tsa.gov/news/releases/2018/02/16/tsa-los-angeles-world-airports-partner-

demonstrate-state-art-security [Accessed 7 May 2018].

Compatible Land Use and Airspace Protection. (2009). Retrieved from

https://www.faa.gov/airports/resources/publications/orders/compliance_5190_6/media/51

90_6b_chap20.pdf

Stevens, D., Schell, T., Hamilton, T., Mesic, R., & Brown, M. S. (2004). Near-term options for

improving security at Los Angeles International Airport. RAND CORP ARLINGTON

VA. Stevens, D., Schell, T., Hamilton, T., Mesic, R., & Brown, M. S. (2004). Near-term

options for improving security at Los Angeles International Airport. RAND CORP

ARLINGTON VA.

Price, J., & Forrest, J. (2016). Practical aviation security: predicting and preventing future

threats. Butterworth-Heinemann.

Stewart, M. G., & Mueller, J. (2017). Are We Safe Enough?: Measuring and Assessing Aviation

Security. Elsevier.

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