FAA Chief Listens to Airport Noise Complaints : Aviation: Official tells Valley Village residents he will look at diverting more Burbank flights.

Homeowners angered by aircraft noise generated by the Burbank Airport had the ear for more than hour Thursday of the Federal Aviation Administration chief, who told them he would look into the possibility of changing takeoff patterns but made no promises.

FAA Administrator David Hinson met with an invited group of residents in the living room of a Valley Village home, and assured them that his staff would look into the possibility of diverting more of the airport’s departing flights eastward over Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena.

Currently, the FAA’s official position on the issue is that it is preferable for jet aircraft to take off from Burbank Airport in a southerly direction for safety, largely to decrease the risk of hitting the Verdugo Mountains. That takeoff path forces planes to circle around to the west to avoid crossing into LAX airspace south of the Santa Monica Mountains, routing them over the eastern San Fernando Valley as they climb.

Hinson did not debate his agency’s stance during the meeting, preferring to simply hear the complaints of residents in Valley Village and Studio City who live under the most frequently used flight path for jetliners leaving the airport.

“We’re just trying to make sure that we are sensitive to the community. That’s part of my job: to listen to everybody if there’s a question about aviation,” he said after the meeting hosted by Lori Dinkin, president of the Valley Village Homeowners Assn. Airport administrators were not invited.

Most residents who did attend belong to a coalition of homeowners groups that want more planes diverted to the east to reduce aircraft noise.

U.S. Rep. Howard Berman (D-Panorama City), a longtime advocate of a “share the noise” plan, arranged the meeting.

The issue, debated for many years, has drawn more attention recently because of the public debate over plans to quadruple the size of the airport’s terminal building by the year 2010.

A member of the homeowners coalition, Tom Paterson, said his group is not opposed to the idea of replacing the terminal--as the FAA has ordered the airport to do--because the 64-year-old building is dangerously close to the runways.

But he said he fears a much larger facility without any adequate efforts to mitigate noise would make life unbearable for residents who live southwest of the airport.

“No one disputes the convenience of Burbank Airport,” Paterson said. “But the arguments that continue to be advanced about the safety issues are phony.

“The airport has essentially said it’s not our problem, it’s the FAA’s problem.”

Hinson’s visit Thursday appeared to thrust the FAA into the type of highly charged local debate his agency typically tries to avoid.

The FAA officially supports the expansion efforts of airport facilities nationwide. But Hinson said his agency will stay clear of the public debate over the Burbank Airport’s plans to build a larger terminal, leaving that for the community to settle.

“No airport expands because it wants to expand,” he said. “Airports have no reason to exist unless their communities want to use them. Communities expand the airport.”

Hinson’s visit inadvertently triggered another controversy Thursday, as some followers of Burbank Airport issues wondered why the meeting wasn’t open to the public.

“By having an exclusive meeting, they are denying all other constituents an opportunity to hear and possibly speak,” said R.C. (Chappy) Czapiewski, who opposes the terminal expansion plan.

“These exclusive meetings are undemocratic.”

Burbank Airport Noise Noise from Burbank Airport is heard strongest in the 65-decibel zone shown on this map. But residents as far away as North Hollywood and Studio City say they are impacted as well. Source: Burbank Airport