VAN NUYS : Aircraft Companies Cited for Noise
Van Nuys Airport has started issuing citations to aircraft companies whose pilots exceed noise limits set by the airport’s noise-reduction program.
Two weeks ago, the airport sent 48 letters to 29 aircraft operators, informing them that their pilots had violated decibel limits set by the airport for various types of jet airplanes.
Two hundred operators avoided an impending noise ordinance two years ago by agreeing to comply voluntarily with noise limits under the airport’s Voluntary Noise Control Program. During one week in May this year, however, the airport’s new noise-monitoring system detected 48 instances in which an aircraft exceeded the recommended noise guidelines. With a $1-million tracking system now in place, the airport can for the first time identify aircraft responsible for each noise violation.
Seven companies committed more than two violations. The most citations went to Hughes Aircraft Co., with seven, followed by Clay Lacy, six; Stergios Rapis, four, and Petersen Aviation, three.
Airport Manager Ron Kochevar said he believed that, once notified, pilots would comply with the voluntary guidelines rather than face mandatory restrictions.
“What we want to see is those letters getting fewer and fewer in number,” Kochevar said.
Pilots can reduce noise over nearby homes by throttling back the engines, easing off on the plane’s accelerator and achieving a high altitude before flying over residential areas.
Hughes officials said they are taking the matter seriously.
“(Joel Morris, director of flight operations,) has already issued a notice to the pilots alerting them to the fact that we have, on those six flights, exceeded the voluntary limits and instructed them to take corrective measures--as long as they don’t compromise safety,” Hughes spokesman Kearney Bothwell said.
High temperatures and a full load can restrict an airplane’s ability to achieve a high altitude, thus increasing noise, Morris said.
If the voluntary program fails to keep noise levels in check, Kochevar said, the Board of Airport Commissioners may ban the noisiest airplanes from Van Nuys Airport.
