Residents Sound Off Over Noise at Airport

Frequently referring to Van Nuys Airport as “Van Noise,” several hundred San Fernando Valley residents and politicians on Saturday implored a top official with the Federal Aviation Administration to curb noise and pollution from the nation’s busiest general aviation airport.

During a forum at Reseda High School, residents asked the FAA for its support in requiring helicopters to fly at higher altitudes, imposing stricter flight curfews and reducing the number of jets taking off and landing.

“You need to listen to the voices of the community,” Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) said to FAA representatives, including William Withycombe, regional administrator for the agency’s Western-Pacific Division. “We need your support.”

As an appointee to the FAA’s Southern California Task Force, which is reviewing air traffic procedures at airports throughout the Los Angeles area, Sherman sponsored the meeting in hopes of speedier resolutions to airport problems.

The noise reduces property values and threatens quality of life, he said.

“First came the homes, then came the jets,” Sherman said to clapping and cheering residents, including presidents of nearly all homeowner and resident associations in the Valley.

Also in attendance was state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles), along with local political representatives.

Absent were Van Nuys Airport officials, but in a letter to Sherman, dated July 9, Van Nuys Airport Manager Jens Rivera said the airport strictly enforces three noise abatement policies and a nighttime curfew law that limits certain types of aircraft operations.

“We look forward to working with your office in seeking a balanced approach to address [noise] issues with the residential, airport and business communities,” Rivera wrote.

Evelyn Jerome, a spokeswoman for the Van Nuys Helicopter Operators Assn., said pilots generally try to fly above industrial or recreational areas instead of residential. She also said safety reasons limit how high they can fly, because anything above 2,500 feet is in the flight path for Burbank Airport.

“We’re happy to be as flexible to the extent that we can be,” said Jerome, who attended the meeting.

She said stricter curfews cannot be imposed on Los Angeles police and fire helicopters, many of which are based in Van Nuys, because that could put people’s lives at stake.

The airport is also the base for most media helicopters in Southern California, many of which take off around 5:30 a.m. If there were a later morning curfew, there would be no morning news or traffic, Jerome said.

Residents said they’re particularly bothered by the media helicopters and complained that most seem to fly near residential areas along the 101 and 405 freeways.

“I don’t need an alarm clock in the mornings,” said Tony Lucente, president of the Studio City Residents Assn., which represents 2,000 households. “They wake me up every weekday.”