In the spring of 1968, I had just been promoted to First Class Petty Officer. I was an Electronic Technician in the U.S. Navy, and I was being transferred from sea duty on my first ship, the USS Markab (AR 23), to a tour of shore duty. The Markab was in Long Beach at that time, and I was at the L.A. International Airport waiting to catch a plane to Oakland.
We lived in Castro Valley, and my ship's home port was in Alameda – at the Alameda Naval Air Station. I was taking 30 days leave before flying with Judy and our son Mark to Hawaii where we would live for the next almost 3 years.
After I had checked in for my flight, I had several hours to kill before my plane took off. I was wandering around the airport, and thought it would be really interesting if I could get a tour of the control tower. If I asked, the worst that could happen was that they would say "no". But they might say "yes".
It wasn't hard to find the tower. After all, it's the tallest building at the airport. I went into the receptionist's area at the foot of the tower, and asked if it might be possible to go up to the "cab" and see what it is like. I was in uniform, and told the lady that I worked in electronics and was waiting for my flight. She said she would call up and ask the supervisor if it was possible for me to go up. To my surprise, he said yes, and I took an elevator to the very top of the tower.
The air traffic control tower when I was there in 1968 was tall and impressive, but I could not find a picture of it. This is the newer control tower.
When I stepped out of the elevator, I could see all around the airport. What a view! Several people were manning stations where they were talking with pilots who were either taking off, taxying on the ground, or coming in for a landing. I got to spend about 30 or 40 minutes up there. It was absolutely fascinating to watch the inner workings of a major airport.
After I had been up in this part of the control tower for a while, the supervisor asked if I would like to go down to Area Control Center on the floor below. No windows here - This is where air traffic controllers track, coordinate, and communicate with all of the planes flying in the air space all around southern California.
When a plane approaches Los Angeles to land, a controller in this room coordinates the plane's approach until it reaches a certain distance from the airport. Then he "hands the pilot off" to a controller in the "cab" upstairs to coordinate the landing. Or, when a plane takes off, the controller upstairs "hands off" the plane to a controller on this floor, who then coordinates the plane's flight until it is time to "hand off" the plane to the next Area Control Center. The Los Angeles Center will "hand off" planes to (or receive planes from) either Oakland, Salt Lake City, Denver, or Albuquerque Center.
[It is my understanding that the Los Angeles Area Control Center (En Route Center) is not actually in the tower at the airport anymore, but is actually located in Palmdale, CA.]
I spent a very interesting half hour or so in this large windowless room, which was filled with radar screens manned by a team of air traffic controllers, whose job is to keep everything coordinated and safe in that very large and complex 3-dimensional world of air traffic.
Needless to say, this was an experience I really enjoyed. As I was writing about this, I was amazed to realize how much things have changed since the 9-11 attack on our country. Today, the average person like me, walking in off the street, would never be allowed up in a control tower - especially at a place like LA International.
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