FAA: More L.B. Flights , Less Noise Possible

Noise at Long Beach Airport could be reduced while allowing up to 80 flights a day, a Federal Aviation Administration official has said in a letter to the city.

The FAA official also warned the city that it should speed up its airport noise study, which will be used to determine the number of flights.

Eighteen flights are now permitted at the airport each day, but a 19-member task force is studying how many flights could be allowed without seriously disturbing residents under the airport’s flight paths.

Long Beach officials reacted sharply to the letter, charging that the FAA was attempting to interfere in the study, and in effect had “predetermined” the number of flights and level of noise acceptable to the city and residents.

Chief Counsel’s Conclusion

Edward P. Faberman, FAA deputy chief counsel, said in the Dec. 6 letter to City Manager John Dever that “it is clear” from an analysis by a city consultant to the task force that “reduction in noise exposure” could be achieved while providing 40 flights a day. (A flight constitutes one arrival and departure of an airplane.)

The airport also could accommodate twice that number of flights “under certain operating assumptions” with less noise than now exists, Faberman said in the letter, which city officials received Wednesday.

“Failure to recognize that potential . . . would call into serious question the good-faith intent of the city” in undertaking the noise study, Faberman said. That study is being paid for by the city and the FAA.

In his letter, Faberman did not elaborate on how the noise reduction could be achieved and he could not be reached for comment last week. City officials said there are a number of ways noise can be reduced--from changing takeoff and landing procedures to using quieter aircraft--but they said they would not concede that Faberman’s conclusions are correct.

Faberman also questioned why the city planned to hold a public hearing only after the study is completed, noting that the entire study “is a public process.”

The FAA has been contacted by air carriers eager to increase the number of their flights into Long Beach, he said. “In light of the demand for additional service at Long Beach, we consider the continued delays to be unacceptable,” he said.

Faberman asked that the city have the noise plan ready by early January so it can be presented at a Jan. 21 conference in connection with a U. S. District Court lawsuit in which three airlines are seeking more flights into Long Beach.

There is no firm date set for completion of the study by the task force. Although the study began 20 months ago, it was supposed to take 18 months to complete.

The task force, which is made up of residents in areas affected by airport noise, airline officials, representatives of schools and airport-area businesses, will present its recommendations to the City Council. After reviewing them, the council will forward the study to the FAA. After the FAA has studied the document, the council is expected to adopt ordinances based on the recommendations.

Mayor Ernie Kell said he found it surprising that the FAA “would choose to attempt to interfere in the processes of a local government in this manner,” stressing that the task force has been “working hard and is only slightly behind” its schedule.

Kell also said he was troubled that the FAA had “predetermined the number of flights and corresponding level of noise which Long Beach must accept in derogation of the rights of the city.”

Kell said that the task force will consider many factors before determining how many flights should be allowed. The FAA, however, seemed to make its flight projection based only on a few of the factors being considered by the task force, he said.