Issue date: August 26, 1998
As more and more residents become concerned about low-flying planes over the Peninsula, it is welcome news that scientists at NASA-Ames have added the reduction of aircraft noise as one of the objectives of a major study of the nation's airways. The goal is to find ways to triple the capacity of the U.S. aviation system in all weather conditions within 10 years. Their findings will be shared with elected officials from San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, as well as State Sens. Quentin Kopp and Byron Sher at a meeting next week.
Officials from Atherton and Menlo Park hope NASA will suggest ways to reduce the noise impact from planes flying over the Peninsula as they approach San Francisco International Airport. Under current rules, aircraft headed to SFO from the east cross a beacon near Skyline Boulevard at 6,000 feet, or 7,000 feet during specified nighttime periods. The planes then fly directly over Portola Valley, Woodside, Menlo Park and Atherton before turning north on final approach to the airport. Other planes inbound from the north and south also cross the Peninsula, which impacts other communities, including Palo Alto. Critics say many of these planes are not sticking to the agreed-upon altitude restriction, and are creating noise problems on the ground below.
Menlo Park City Council member Paul Collacchi, one of the city's representatives on the Airport/Community Roundtable, recently charged that more air traffic has been routed over the Peninsula in recent years, for no apparent reason. Mr. Collacchi, writing to Airport Director John Martin, said that after comparing flight records during 1991 and 1998, he concludes that flights over the Peninsula have increased dramatically, without a corresponding increase in air traffic.
"There is not capacity-related justification for rerouting traffic down the Peninsula -- noise has been redistributed to Peninsula communities as a matter of policy for no obvious reason," Mr. Collacchi wrote.
Hopefully, the NASA-Ames scientists will be able to suggest ways to accommodate the tremendous growth expected in air traffic, perhaps by directing planes over water at higher altitudes, where they can begin a descent into SFO without inflicting Peninsula residents with unacceptable noise levels.
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