"Airport Noise Near National Stirs Concern"

Friday, October 15, 2004

Airport Noise Near National Stirs Concern
Recommended Changes Include Rerouting Planes, Use of GPS
By Steven Ginsberg
The Washington (DC) Post


Reagan National Airport officials yesterday recommended a series of changes,
including routing planes over water instead of land, to reduce noise over
neighborhoods. 

Officials also recommended varying the points where planes turn toward or
away from the airport, installing the latest technology to monitor noise and
establishing a better way to communicate with the public when problems
arise. 
 
"We're dealing with issues we really think address the problems," said
Jonathan Gaffney, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports
Authority. 

The recommendations are part of a review of federal noise standards. They
come four years after officials began studying the issue, because the review
was put on hold after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. 

In addition to changing air travel around the world, the attacks limited
traffic and noise at National for months. Recently, the airport returned to
the robust traffic levels of the summer of 2001, and the launching of a
slate of new routes has added to concerns over noisy planes. 

The most critical recommendation involves keeping planes over the Potomac
and Anacostia rivers. Planes are required to fly over the water within 10
miles north of the airport and five miles south of it. But at night or
during bad weather, pilots often stray from that path because it is
difficult for them to see below, airport officials said. 

Gaffney said the airports authority has proposed using technology, such as a
global positioning system, so that pilots would always be able to remain
over the rivers. 

He said almost all planes turn toward or away from the airport at the
southern five-mile point, which means they constantly fly over the same
Mount Vernon area neighborhoods in Virginia. So the authority has
recommended varying the turning point beyond the five-mile mark to spread
out the noise. 

"I think that'll serve us down south," said Leo T. Powell Jr., a citizen
representative for Maryland on the airport noise abatement committee, which
was formed to study the issue. But Powell said Marylanders north of the
airport are still dissatisfied. "I don't think the people up north are
getting a great deal of relief," he said. 

Barbara A. Favola, chairman of the Arlington County Board and head of the
noise abatement committee, said one of the biggest problems is airport
officials' lack of accountability in monitoring noise violations. 

"The airport authority has done a very poor job of monitoring noise
complaints and monitoring compliance," she said. The recommendations call
for the authority to set up a Web page where people can register complaints
and where they would be given a reason for violations. 

Regardless of the rules, airport officials and residents say noise levels
are much better than they used to be because of quieter jet engines and
because general aviation operations were halted at the airport after the
terrorist attacks. 

The recommendations and public comment about them will be forwarded to the
Federal Aviation Administration, which will have final say over any changes.
That process is expected to take up to nine months.


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