New Takeoff Rules Boost Airport Safety : * Now County Should Make Good on Plans to Assist Homeowners Affected by Jet Noise
There has been enough controversy in recent years over takeoff procedures at John Wayne Airport to shake the certainty of even the most seasoned fliers. Pilots have actually gone public with misgivings about required power cutbacks at lower altitudes to meet the terms of an agreement on noise levels between the airport and the city of Newport Beach.
But now, in a marvelous testimony to the art of compromise and experimentation, some test procedures that had been in effect for a year and a half, and that ultimately were designed to make it safer to fly out of the airport, have passed muster and are being put in place permanently.
Passengers who in the past felt that sudden drop in power as the airplane was taking off will not experience it as soon. To meet noise regulations around the airport, some of the toughest protections in the nation, aircraft in the past have cut power at 500 feet. The new rules, which were put in place to anticipate an order from the Federal Aviation Administration, will allow pilots to fly to at least 800 feet before cutting back. That ought to provide an additional margin of safety for pilots who were concerned that they would have insufficient space to abort in case of trouble on ascent.
After tests of the new altitude, the good news is that there has been little resistance from residents over the additional margin of space before power cutbacks. However, it is expected that there will be more noise for residents of the unincorporated area of Santa Ana Heights, immediately in the vicinity of the airport. But for those residents who understandably are unhappy about an increase in a few decibels, the county ought to make good as funds allow on plans either to buy out homeowners who want it or to install acoustical insulation in homes most affected.
That would be a fair enough deal. And it would complement the compromise on noise reductions that otherwise seems satisfactory.
