WHAT’S UP:Planes flying low over Laguna again

WHAT:

Low-altitude commercial airline flights over Laguna Beach.

WHAT’S BEHIND IT:

Flights out of John Wayne Airport take off headed out to sea until released by the Federal Aviation Administration to turn back overland.

After the closure of the U.S. Marine Air Base at El Toro, some commercial airliners began making the inland turn earlier, flying over Laguna Beach at an appreciable lower altitude, which saves time and fuel. Complaining residents were told that new technology made the earlier release possible.

In 2001, city officials and a few concerned citizens met with Federal Aviation Administration brass to express concerns about the problem. They felt that the noise problem resulted from a change in flight paths of departing commercial flights heading FAA officials denied any change in the flight paths.

Flights begin shortly after 7 a.m., when John Wayne opens, and fly over Laguna at various heights and frequency. If only some of the time, why at all, residents asked?

Residents’ complaints to the airport and to the FAA brought temporary relief, City Manager Ken Frank said, but basically the FAA told the city to buzz off.

Councilwoman Toni Iseman suggested boycotting airlines that persisted in flying low over Laguna while other council members urged residents to contact John Wayne Airport officials and the FAA to complain.

“Short of a groundswell of public opposition, I don’t think we will get far,” Frank has said. “The mayor, the city manager and 10 people won’t help.” The city implemented technology to track the flights paths and the airlines and presented findings to former Rep. Chris Cox. Cox went to bat for Laguna with the FAA and the flights were abated. Temporarily.

Was it mere coincidence that the annoying flights over Laguna resumed just about the time Cox prepared to vacate his congressional seat to take over the chairmanship of the Security Exchange Commission?

A report surfaced in August of 2005 that cutbacks in oil production and fuel storage put airlines at risk of running out of fuel to keep tanks filled and keeping schedules on time . Also in the news about the same time: expectations that John Wayne Airport will expand, possibly adding more airlines .

Since then, the low flights have been an on-again-off again proposition — with a steady increase reported recently.

WHAT NOW:

City Council candidates were asked at the forum sponsored by Top of the World and Temple Hills neighborhood associations on Monday what they would do to get flights limited to higher than 7,000 feet, the altitude at which the noise is abated.

The city may not have much clout with the FAA, incumbent Toni Iseman said, but at least it is working with Newport to fight the expansion of John Wayne Airport.

Candidate Verna Rollinger said the Laguna has never backed off from a fight, while Kelly Boyd recommended that the city should work with the Federal Aeronautics Administration and members of the Congress to push for the higher elevation.

WHAT’S SAID:

“When I moved to Top of the World, the TOWNA board asked me if heard the airplanes, and I said no,” incumbent Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider said. “But I had to admit that I wear earplugs because my husband snores. Maybe that is what everyone is hearing.”

WHAT’S NEXT:

Pearson-Schneider said people who are disturbed by the low-altitude commercial flights should bombard John Wayne Airport and the FAA with phone calls. She gave out the airport’s Noise Manager’s number — (949) 252-5043 — and an FAA contact number: (310) 725-3550.

Complaints also may made to the John Wayne noise abatement number at (949) 252-5185, and the FAA Noise Hotline for the Western Region at (310) 725-3638, or by writing to the FAA Regional Administrator, P.O. Box 92007, Los Angeles, CA 90009.

The more, the better.

— Barbara Diamond