L.A. Schools Join Call for Jet Noise-Sharing Plan

The Los Angeles Board of Education voted unanimously Monday to join a chorus of critics asking the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority to redirect some takeoffs to spread jetliner noise over a wider area.

The school board got involved because of complaints from school administrators in the eastern San Fernando Valley that the roar of jet noise disturbs classes every day. An airport authority spokesman said its studies show only two Los Angeles district schools are severely impacted by jet noise.

But Sam Moore, the district’s representative on an airport authority noise study team, said the airport’s count is based on a survey of a limited area. When scores of East Valley campuses were surveyed, the number reporting disturbances from Burbank-based jets startled district officials, he said.

50 Claim Disruption

“Fifty schools have at least single-event overflights each day that cause disruption of the learning process,” Moore said.

Currently, almost all flights leaving Burbank Airport take off to the south and bank westward and northward over Studio City and North Hollywood.

The Federal Aviation Administration has prohibited jets from taking off toward the east--which is what the “share the noise” proponents want--because the terminal building is too close to the east-west runway. The FAA has said the ban will remain in effect until a new terminal is built, which the authority expects to complete some time in the 1990s.

Airport officials say the have no power to mandate the direction of takeoffs, a decision now made by FAA air traffic controllers, the airlines and pilots--especially by the pilots, who customarily have the last word. Pilots almost always take off to the south at Burbank Airport because the north-south runway is 700 feet longer than the east-west runway, slopes downhill to the south and the prevailing wind is from the south.

However, the FAA and the Air Transport Assn., representing the airlines, have agreed that from 30% to 40% of flights could take off to the east when they are allowed to do so after completion of the new terminal.

Proponents of the “share the noise” plan--pushed primarily by East Valley homeowner groups-- want a binding agreement on takeoff direction as soon as possible. They have been rounding up political support, including Los Angeles city officials and members of Congress, through whom they hope to bring pressure on the FAA.

Strength in Numbers

If jet noise was equally distributed among Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena and Los Angeles, the East Valley homeowners say, residents of all the communities affected would react by bringing political pressure on the airport authority to limit the number of flights. The airport authority now says that under federal laws, it has no such authority.

A proposal for the City of Los Angeles to file suit to require more eastbound takeoffs will come before a City Council committee later this week. Councilmen Joel Wachs and Ernani Bernardi, who represent East Valley districts, have called for the lawsuit.

How quickly the council will act is uncertain because of a recommendation from the city attorney’s office. On Monday, Deputy City Atty. William L. Waterhouse told the Industry and Economic Development Committee that the airport authority’s decision to put off action until late this year on the “share the noise” request has left the subject moot, for the time being.

Must Await Report

In a two-page letter to the committee, Waterhouse advised that the city’s prospects of compelling the airport authority to institute a “fair share” program through litigation must await completion of an environmental study on the impact of implementing such a program. That study is expected to be completed later this year.

At Monday’s school board meeting, Roberta Weintraub, whose East Valley district receives the majority of jet noise, stopped short of promising that the school district would join any city lawsuit against Burbank Airport. However, she said, the board’s resolution shows “that we are supportive of their effort.”

Weintraub, who authored the district’s “fair share” resolution, said students at the 50 schools “have a right to a learning environment free of excessive noise pollution.”

2 Schools Severely Affected

The school district and the airport authority agree that two schools--Glenwood Elementary and Roscoe Elementary, both in Sun Valley--receive the brunt of noise.

“When we do the Pledge of Allegiance, if the jet noise starts, we just stop and wait and start over again,” said Roscoe Principal Sharon Lee. “We’re getting used to it. We try not to dwell on the noise.”

At Glenwood, Principal Art Chandler said classes often come to a standstill while teachers and students wait for jet noise to subside.

“Sometimes when a jet goes over, you can stand on my playground and almost see what the pilot looks like,” Chandler said.

Times Staff Writer Richard Simon contributed to this story.