Topanga Jet-Noise Plan Called Off

A plan to put a quick end to jetliner noise over Topanga Canyon came to a screeching halt Wednesday.

The Federal Aviation Administration said its plan to muffle jet noise by having the planes fly higher above the canyon is not safe. The new flight procedure, announced four weeks ago in hopes of ending noise complaints from residents of the 2,000-home canyon and nearby Calabasas, was to have begun next month.

But officials now feel it would be dangerous to reroute commercial jets leaving Los Angeles International Airport for northern California, said Lewis Perry, an FAA air-traffic planner in charge of noise abatement at the airport.

Perry said a higher takeoff path would put departing planes on a potential collision course with incoming flights to Los Angeles.

“We’d be playing Russian roulette, trying to thread a needle with aircraft,” Perry said.

Extensive Changes Coming

Instead, Perry said, changes in takeoff routes over the canyon will be delayed a year or more until revisions are made to the entire Southern California flight path network.

Those changes are awaiting the installation of new air-traffic control equipment for the Los Angeles area, he said.

Planes now fly over Topanga Canyon at varying altitudes, depending in part on other air traffic, FAA officials said. The agency had planned to keep all planes at 11,000 feet or higher until its further review indicated the safety risks involved.

Wednesday’s news was a setback to Topanga Canyon community leaders, who had expected to learn details of the higher-takeoff solution from FAA officials Monday night at a Topanga Town Council meeting.

Town Council board member Barry Glaser was told of the change when he telephoned the airport control tower to confirm officials’ appearance at the session.

Hopes for Improvement Dashed

“I’m shocked and disappointed,” said Glaser, who met a month ago with FAA officials to play a tape recording of canyon jet noise and discuss the higher route.

“I was told then that the planes would be swung further out over the ocean and would be about 11,000 feet over the canyon. I left that meeting feeling it was under control and we’d be seeing an improvement by mid-March at the latest.”

An FAA official said after that meeting that Topanga residents would see “an appreciable difference” when the new turning and climbing procedure went into effect.

Perry said Wednesday that air-traffic controllers will direct jetliners taking off on a path known to pilots as “Gorman Five” to high altitudes over the canyon whenever possible. But he said northbound planes will be kept under 9,000 feet if southbound planes are in the area.

“We have two busy routes crisscrossing, and there’s no way we can get over the top of the inbounds with the outbounds,” Perry said.

High-Traffic Period

“It’s unfortunate we have our departure rush at the same time as the arrival rush. They both meet over Malibu.”

He said officials have studied “Gorman Five” departures over the past four weeks and concluded that aircraft turn north at the proper spot above the Santa Monica Bay.

Perry said the anticipated overhaul of Southern California’s airspace will be “dramatic” and will occur after new equipment is installed. FAA officials have announced plans to install the new gear at LAX next January.

“We’re looking to get the jets more offshore. What people would like to see will happen,” Perry said of the Topanga Canyon residents. “I can’t give them a date. It could be one year or three. We can’t do it overnight.”