Last week I talked about Travel + Leisure magazine’s list of the most dangerous airports in the United States, in which Honolulu ranked fifth.

State transportation spokesman Dan Meisenzahl took umbrage with the rating, calling the methodology flawed and the Travel + Leisure article "irresponsible journalism."

This week I’ll give some column inches to Rich Beattie, executive digital editor for Travel + Leisure. He explains a bit more about the magazine’s methodology, which I tried to explain last week but didn’t have the space to do so at length.

"We scored each airport on the total number of runway incursions relative to runway operations over the past five years, as reported by the (Federal Aviation Administration)," Beattie says. "We did give more weight to what the FAA calls Category A and B incidents; these carry a higher potential for a more serious result, which could be an accident with no injuries at all."

The FAA defines a Category A incident as one in which a collision was narrowly avoided. A Category B incident is also a near miss but not as close as a Category A incident.

Meisenzahl said that many of the 30 incidents at Honolulu Airport reported by the magazine were blamed on pilot error. Beattie says pilot error and airport operations are correlated.

"We quote the FAA’s former director of runway safety in saying that 80 percent of the incidents caused by pilot error stem from small private planes," Beattie says. "Therefore, airports that have lots of pilot training activity or a large number of flight schools are more at risk for a runway incursion." General aviation, which includes small planes, accounted for 17 percent of activity at Honolulu Airport in 2006, the last year for which such data are posted on the state Transportation Department website.

I thank Mr. Beattie for taking the time to write in and offering his publication’s take on the listing. Visit travelandleisure.com for its list and a full explanation of the rating’s methodology.

TRANSIT WORKSHOPS

I’d like to remind folks living in Kalihi and downtown that two more workshops are planned for your areas on development around the rail project stations.

Kalihi respondents to surveys said improved sidewalks, more parking and more affordable housing were the three most desired developments. Downtown, improved landscaping, bicycle parking and more places to sit were three improvements most broadly supported in surveys.

The downtown workshop is Monday at the Hawaii Community Development Authority, 461 Cooke St. The Kalihi workshop is Tuesday at the Farrington High School library. Both are from 6 to 8 p.m.

Reach Gene Park at gpark@staradvertiser.com, or Twitter as @GenePark.