"Residents: Mather planes too low, loud"

Sunday, September 22, 2002

Residents: Planes too low, loud
Noise: Flights may move south of freeway
By Maija-Liisa Young
The Sacramento (CA) Bee


Air cargo planes flying in to Mather Airport need to retain a higher
altitude when passing over Folsom and El Dorado County. That's what
residents told Federal Aviation Administration and air cargo
representatives at a town hall meeting in Folsom last week.

"The low-flying planes are really disturbing," said Jack London of
Folsom. "Please do something to fix it. There seems to be more talk than
action."

More than 60 residents attended the meeting organized by Sacramento
County Supervisor Roger Niello, whose district includes Folsom.

"The reason we're here is we have an operation -- Mather Airport -- that
creates a huge resource, but it creates a huge noise," Niello said.

The airport is an important economic factor in the region, said Folsom
Vice Mayor Kerri Howell.

"We basically want FAA and air cargo coming in to fly higher," she said.
"If we can keep planes flying higher over Folsom, it's higher over El
Dorado Hills. We need to work

together in a manner that doesn't drive us

crazy. This isn't Folsom versus El Dorado Hills."

Last year, Sacramento and El Dorado counties, Folsom and the FAA
negotiated a "step-down" approach designed for quieter skies over
residential areas. Cargo planes are to fly higher over neighborhoods and
make a steeper descent.

But Folsom and El Dorado County officials have said pilots are not
adhering to the approach -- an allegation echoed by residents.

Bianca Dinkler of Folsom said planes fly so low over her home that she
could "climb on the roof and scratch the belly of an aircraft."

Heidi Lockett, also of Folsom, said she and her husband researched their
new home site for six months before purchasing it.

"We were never told of the air traffic increase at Mather," she said.
"When we moved into our home and saw a plane go overhead so low we could
see landing gear, we knew we made a mistake."

Pilots do not follow a prescribed route to the runway and can fly any
way necessary to provide a safe landing, said Stephen Lloyd, an
operations manager with FAA, based in Lawndale.

"There is yet a rule or procedure that says you have to fly over these
houses at a certain altitude," he said. "You ought to develop a
noise-abatement program."

Harriet Freitas of Folsom said she had thought such a program had been
developed for the airport but recently was surprised to learn there was
none.

However, United Parcel Service is working with pilots on new flight
procedures to alleviate some of the noise, said Kevin Hoffmann, airport
properties representative for UPS.

Several residents who live south of Highway 50 in El Dorado County
attended the meeting to oppose moving the flight pattern south of the
freeway.

Flying south of Highway 50 could be part of new guidelines sought by
Sacramento County and Folsom. Earlier this year, the two entities
approved resolutions asking the FAA to adopt guidelines for a new "quiet
visual" approach to Mather. Under that plan, arriving planes would fly
south of the freeway and pilots would use landmarks as visual guides.

Bob Strickland of El Dorado Hills said moving the flight path south of
Highway 50 is not the solution.

"We moved from Reno and lived in the flight path and we did not want the
noise," he said. "We chose to live in the south side knowing the current
flight path existed. We have a quiet neighborhood ... we request it
remains that way."

Pilots like to fly planes at lower altitudes for convenience, not for
safety, said Robert Hollis, who lives south of Highway 50.

"We would like to ask Folsom to be a good neighbor," he said. "This is a
shared problem. I'd rather work together."

Glen Otey of Folsom suggested establishing a curfew for planes flying
into Mather Airport to eliminate noise at night.

"Our nation's capital deals with this by stopping flights from 11 p.m.
to 7 a.m.," he said.

Creating a curfew on planes is possible, but it would be a long process,
said Joseph Rodriguez, the FAA's supervisor of planning and programming.

The noise problem at Mather Airport is not unique, Lloyd said.

"This is an issue all over the country," he said.

Another town hall meeting will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the
El Dorado Hills Community Services District Pavilion, 1021 Harvard Way
in El Dorado Hills.


 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?conf=DCConfID8

*****************************************