Panel OKs Airport Noise Exemption
In response to a dispute at Van Nuys Airport, the Assembly Transportation Committee on Monday approved by a vote of 15 to 0 a bill that would exempt medical emergency flights from local airport anti-noise restrictions.
The measure, by Assemblywoman Marian W. La Follette (R-Northridge), would lift regulations limiting the time of such flights, the type of airplanes flown and the amount of noise they generate on departure. It was sent to the full Assembly for consideration.
Under the proposal, local ordinances would not apply if an undue delay in an emergency flight “would jeopardize a patient’s medical condition,” according to the committee’s analysis of the legislation.
La Follette introduced the measure after neighborhood groups protesting airplane noise at Van Nuys Airport argued that charter companies who make the emergency flights, including trips for organ transplants, should fall under regulations that would require them to use quieter jets.
The medical flights currently are exempt from regulation by the city of Los Angeles and the city Department of Airports, which restrict night takeoffs.
Opponents of such restrictions complained that the quieter jets could be slower, resulting in delays in transporting organs for transplant operations.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
