Councilwoman Orders Study on Night Takeoff Ban at Van Nuys

A Los Angeles city official Tuesday ordered a six-month study of the effects of a proposed ban on night takeoffs at Van Nuys Airport, turning aside demands from noise protesters who wanted the proposal submitted to the City Council.

“I think it should be studied as part of our overall approach to noise control at the airport,” said Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, who heads the council’s Industry and Economic Development Committee.

Since 1981, the council has banned night departures by planes rated as producing more than 74 decibels of noise on takeoff. The airport also bans all scheduled passenger flights and is launching a federal study aimed at finding ways to reduce noise complaints.

Councilman Joel Wachs had proposed banning all takeoffs from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., saying homeowners continued to complain about aircraft noise.

The ban would affect about 10 takeoffs a night at the city-owned facility, airport officials say. It would not restrict landings, which are less noisy. Neither the curfew nor the proposed ban applies to military or emergency flights.

Airport spokesman Bob Hayes acknowledged that the airport gets complaints about late-night noise, but said it “doesn’t disturb people to the degree that people would like you to believe.”

Don Schultz, president of Ban Airport Noise, said: “The present nighttime curfew is not working for the residential communities surrounding the airport. . . . A single jet taking off during the middle of the night will continue to disrupt the sleep of a number of surrounding communities.”

A report last month from the city attorney’s office indicated that closing the facility at night might “constitute an undue burden on interstate commerce,” in violation of the U.S. Constitution, and might violate provisions of the agreement under which the federal government gave the airport to the city.