Airport Noise

I feel that Van Nuys Airport does have something to offer the Valley. However, I do not feel that anyone should have to live in a home that has become unlivable due to aircraft noise. These noisy Stage II jets are making life unbearable for many people. How can one justify more noisy jets? Are residents affected to move out and give up their homes because the aircraft industry has more money and more power?

The no-addition rule is a way of balancing residents needs and airport businesses’ needs. It is impractical to shut down the airport for the sake of residents, but it is ludicrous to expect homeowners to live with continuous upset due to aircraft noise.

Another point to keep in mind: Has anyone ever thought about the effects of gross amounts of air pollution coming from all three of our valley airports? The aircraft industry is out of control. We need protection to preserve our quality of life. Residents need to support the no-addition rule, a phaseout of Stage II jets and a reasonable helicopter curfew.

JOHN RUSSELL, Van Nuys

*

Gerald and Myrna Silver’s criticisms of the Van Nuys Airport’s noise problem are well-taken. (“Politics, Not FAA, Blocks Noise Relief,” April 12).

There is absolutely no enforcement mechanism for any violations of the airport’s “promises” to the community. Pilots essentially follow FAA rules only, which is to say, as far as those of us on the ground are concerned, no rules at all.

The airport’s definition of the so-called noise contour, outside of which there is theoretically no noise problem, is especially galling. No part of Sherman Oaks, for example, is near the noise contour, yet our very thought patterns are often drowned out by jet noise. Small private jets could easily achieve quieter takeoffs perhaps at some loss of fuel efficiency or speed. The correctness of this assertion is easily tested as the type of plane involved can be easily determined from the ground some four miles from the airport.

The airport knows (what politicians have known forever) that one can steal a small amount from a large number of people and get away with it. Each jet operator can apparently steal a little peace and quiet from each of tens of thousands of people and get away with it.

BILL FRIEDMAN, Sherman Oaks