Jenny MarderA Boeing 767 roars over Central...

Jenny Marder

A Boeing 767 roars over Central Park, passing dozens of residential

homes in the southwestern section of town, cutting across Meadowlark

Golf Course by way of Heil Avenue and then continuing its downward

descent toward Long Beach.

This is just one of the 20 commercial air carriers that fly over

this strip of Surf City daily -- a number that has more than doubled

over the past over two years as flight activity at the Long Beach

Airport continues to intensify.

With Huntington Beach in the airport’s arrival path, some Surf

City residents complain that the planes are flying too low -- a

charge airport officials deny.

Since August 2001, the number of daily commercial flights for

planes that weigh more than 75,000 pounds has grown from 14 to 36,

occupying 88% of the airport’s 41 flight slots. And by June of this

year, commercial flights will peak at 41, said Sharon Diggs-Jackson,

public affairs officer at Long Beach Airport.

“Last year was a growth period for us,” Diggs-Jackson said.

But as the airport enjoys its growth, Surf City residents who live

under the flight path have become increasingly irritated.

“We might as well be living next to the Long Beach Airport,” said

Bryan Williams, a Huntington Beach resident who lives directly

underneath the flight path.

City Councilman Dave Sullivan said he has heard complaints from

residents disturbed by the upsurge in flight activity.

“They were really quite upset at the increase, the noise, no

peace,” Sullivan said.

One of these residents, David Hayward recalls times in the past

year, when low altitude planes forced him to cut off conversation.

“We were in the backyard trying to keep up a conversation and

along would come a low-flying plane,” Hayward said. “We would just

have to stop talking until the plane flew by.”

As an Air Force pilot in World War II, Hayward said he is

confident in his ability to judge altitude.

“Some of these planes seem like they’re coming right over the

treetops,” he said.

Hayward said that he is not opposed to increased flights at the

airport, as it supports much of the economy in the area, but wants

the Federal Aviation Administration to enforce altitude limits over

residential areas.

In October, Hayward wrote a letter to the FAA asking that planes

over Huntington Beach fly at a minimum of 1,000 feet and maintain a

glide slope of 3 1/2 degrees.

But airport officials say that pilots already adhere to these

standards.

Planes fly over Huntington Beach at an average altitude of 1,600

feet or more, said Ken Ashmore, operations specialist at the airport,

adding that “there is always the rare occasion when one might be

lower than that.”

Surf City resident Rex Ricks tells of a recent occasion when

children were playing T-ball near Highland Avenue and Graham Street

when a United Parcel Service plane passed “flying really low.”

“If it was at a high altitude, people wouldn’t even notice,” Ricks

contends. “But this caught everyone’s attention.”

Curfews at Long Beach Airport require that pilots be fined by the

FAA if they fly too early or too late. There is a strict 7 a.m. to 10

p.m. curfew and violators are fined $100 to $300 if they exceed these

hours. The curfew may be extended an hour on either end if there is a

mechanical failure, air traffic control problem or a weather

disturbance, Diggs-Jackson said.

All flights are also forced to comply with a strict noise

ordinance, which was finalized in May of 1995 that is based on a

point system in which varying noise levels are allowed at different

hours. Less noise is allowed at night, for example, than in the

middle of the day, Diggs-Jackson said.

There are 18 noise monitors positioned around the perimeter of the

airport that are frequently checked to ensure that planes are

adhering to allowable noise levels. The noise level of every plane

that takes off from the airport is measured and presented in monthly,

quarterly and annual reports, she said. Airport officials boast a 99%

identification rate of violators.

“We’re told that ours is the strictest [noise ordinance] in the

country,” Diggs-Jackson said. “Our objective is to identify 100% of

violators.”

But Ricks and several other residents think that noise should not

be the only element restricted.

“There is a noise cap, but there are no caps on flights, cargo,

tonnage or passengers,” Ricks said.

Ricks is doubtful that the limit will remain at 41 flights and

worries that the noise cap could divert people’s attention from

increased air traffic.

“Instead of a diesel truck honking 10 times a day, it’s like a

small car honking 75 times a day,” Ricks said.

But Diggs-Jackson said that the airport is coming to the end of

its growth period.

“The airport is reaching its prescribed level of service and we

are not planning on going above or beyond the level we’re at now,”

she said.

Long Beach Airport officials are scheduled to brief the City

Council on their flight expansion plans at a study session April 21.

* JENNY MARDER covers City Hall. She can be reached at (714)

965-7173 or by e-mail at [email protected].