FAA: No Answer to Airplane Noise

By DAYNA DRUM | Reporter

Increased airplane noise has been a complaint of many residents in the Pacific Palisades recently. One resident described the noise as sounding like a plane was going to crash into her home in the Highlands.

At the Pacific Palisades Community Council (PPCC) meeting on Thursday, Jan. 14, attendees shared these concerns with two representatives from the Federal Aviation Authority.

Glen Martin, the Regional Administrator for the Western-Pacific Region, presented proposed flight patterns in and out of Southern California, dubbed the Southern California Metroplex project.

According to a press release by the FAA, the project is intended to make air traffic safer and more efficient.

The release goes on to explain that many of the current air traffic procedures in this area are outdated and inefficient. The proposed project includes 109 new satellite-based procedures: 50 departures, 37 arrivals and 22 approach procedures.

The project also expands the number of entry and exit points in and out of the area’s airspace. As for the noise complaints, FAA officials don’t have an answer.

“Our data does not show changes to LAX arrival routes or altitudes, other than more aircrafts flying into the airport and more late-night flights,” said Ian Gregor, FAA Public Affairs Manager.

In his presentation, Martin showed a map with a hypothetical gate created to track arrivals over Santa Monica Canyon flying under 10,000 feet.

The numbers showed that flights had actually decreased from 2013 to 2015. From October to December in 2013 there were 1,319 tracks, 1,083 in 2014 and 785 for the same time period in 2015.

Although, this doesn’t mean officials think Palisadians are making it up.

“We will continue to work to see whether we can identify data that indicates any changes have occurred,” Gregor said.

Gregor also speculated that it could be private pilots who are the source of the noise bothering residents. The current FAA administration is more concerned with the community than that of 30 years ago, Gregor explained in response to whether or not the FAA would actually make any changes.

No decisions have been made on the Metroplex project, but a tentative deadline for a decision is in May. If the project were approved then implementation would begin in November, Gregor said.