If an engine fails on takeoff from John Wayne, Los Angeles International, or Long Beach, pilots continue flying, level and low, out over the ocean. If an engine fails at El Toro, pilots will face mountainous terrain to the east and north.
Engine failures are common.
Then I was hoping that we'd make it to the ocean. I didn't want to go down among a bunch of buildings. Opponents of a commercial airport at El Toro note that plans for that airport call for takeoffs towards mountains where 85 Marines died in a jet transport crash. See pilot's comments on El Toro flightpaths. The jet was about two miles south of the airport and about 1,000 feet up when the engine popped and smoke billowed out of the back of it, officials said.