New Takeoff Procedures Raise Residents’ Ire : Noise: John Wayne Airport, which is testing power cutbacks for jets at 800 feet, reports a record number of complaints in the second quarter of the year.
Reeling from noisier takeoff procedures being tested at John Wayne Airport, nearby residents filed a record number of noise complaints in this year’s second quarter, resulting in a 144% increase over the same period a year ago.
“You can just see it on people’s faces,” said Edwin C. Hall, an airport critic who lives in Santa Ana Heights, the most noise-battered neighborhood because it is closest to the end of the main runway.
“You don’t even try to talk to people when a plane is taking off. And if you’re watching television, you simply miss part of the program.”
Airport officials had expected a sharp rise in complaints. Earlier this year they held community meetings to brief residents on the new procedures and encouraged them to call the airport’s noise abatement hot line with complaints. But it was only Friday that officials released the actual statistics.
And they show dramatic changes.
For example, the 1,750 complaints filed in the second quarter of 1992 is a startling 363% higher than the 378 complaints filed during the three-month period ending March 30--the period immediately before the start of the testing.
The tests are to determine the environmental impact of the Federal Aviation Administration’s proposal to ban the practice of power cutbacks at 500 feet to reduce noise.
The power cutback is mostly used for noisier jets such as the MD-80, which otherwise would not be permitted to operate out of JWA. The airport has the nation’s toughest noise restrictions.
Pilots argue that the power reduction at 500 feet leaves too little margin for error. The FAA proposes to substitute a cutback at 800 feet.
Hall and other Santa Ana Heights residents say that given a choice between safety and noise reduction, they will choose safety. But they have doubts that 800 feet is significantly safer than 500 feet.
Courtney Wiercioch, a John Wayne Airport spokeswoman, said noise complaints always increase during periods of heightened publicity as well as during actual operational changes--and warmer weather.
“I would assume that the higher numbers we’re seeing now are due to high awareness of the tests and the fact that some of the takeoffs are noisier,” Wiercioch said. “And when the weather gets better, more people have their windows open and more people are outside.”
“I don’t know how much this played a role, but we encouraged people to call (JWA’s noise hot line) during the tests,” Wiercioch said.
Despite the high number of complaints, the tests will continue through the end of the year, officials said. Initial analysis of some results is due in October.
Once the analyses are complete, the FAA must decide whether it will impose the 800-foot minimum altitude for power cutbacks. If so, then the airport and FAA must decide how to resolve various legal issues. A 1985 court settlement that allowed JWA to expand requires that the airport maintain its current, strict noise standards.
Noisy Nuisance
Resident noise complaints in the second quarter of this year soared dramatically compared to the same period last year:
1991 1992 % Chg April 268 626 +134 May 190 477 +151 June 259 647 +150 Total 717 1,750 +144
Source: John Wayne Airport
