Airport Noise-Reduction Plan Flies With City Council

A plan to sharply reduce the number of loud jets using Lindbergh Field and curtail the hours of takeoffs and landings was unanimously endorsed Tuesday by the San Diego City Council.

Hammered out during six months of negotiations among several groups concerned about noise at Lindbergh, the plan also calls for soundproofing schools and perhaps nearby residences.

City approval sends the plan on to the county’s Board of Supervisors, which was part of the negotiating panel, for consideration next week. The San Diego Board of Port Commissioners, which operates Lindbergh and joined in the negotiations, could act on the plan as early as October and implement the regulations by Jan. 3.

Also involved in the negotiations was the Marine Corps, which runs a recruit depot next to the airport; the Navy, which operates a training center nearby; the Airport Coalition, a group representing several Lindbergh-area neighborhood and business organizations, and Nancy Palmtag, a resident of Loma Portal and a longtime critic of airport noise.

‘This Was a Compromise’

“This was a compromise,” said District 2 Councilman Ron Roberts, who represented the city on the negotiating panel. “I don’t think anyone who took part in this feels they got everything they wanted.”

Under the plan, 75% of takeoffs and landings at Lindbergh will be made by newer Stage III jets by 1993. The remaining 25% of the flights will be made by older Stage II jets, which can be 12 times louder than the newer generation of airliners.

Within 10 years, all flights to and from Lindbergh will be on Stage III aircraft. Stage II aircraft now make 53% of the takeoffs and landings.

Larry Pickett, a spokesman for USAir, one of the airport’s heaviest users, said the airline would have no problem meeting the regulations. “We’re in real good shape along those lines,” Pickett said. “We are predominantly Stage III aircraft in California right now.”

The plan would also tighten Lindbergh’s night-flight curfew, especially for Stage II jets. All planes are now allowed to take off from 6:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. The new plan would allow Stage III takeoffs from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Stage II takeoffs only from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Full-throttle tests of jet engines would also be banned during the night curfew.