Commercial jets routinely violate noise guidelines over Portola Valley and Woodside Commercial jets routinely violate noise guidelines over Portola Valley and Woodside (February 16, 2005)

** Three-month trend shows improving compliance.

By David Boyce

Almanac Staff Writer

Portola Valley residents tend to take on a particular vigor when defending the rural character of their community. A certain rural quietness is typical, so it is not too surprising that Councilman Steve Toben recently wrote a four-page letter of complaint about low-flying commercial jets.

To limit noise impacts on Woodside and Portola Valley residents, incoming jets crossing the Santa Cruz mountains are supposed to stay at least 8,000 feet above sea level. Data from the San Francisco Airport Noise Abatement Office shows this guideline to be routinely transgressed.

In 2004, monthly average altitudes were all below the 8,000-foot floor, though adherence improved in the last three months. Management at the air traffic control office in Sacramento has been encouraging controllers to attend to the non-enforceable guidelines, but airplane safety always has a higher priority, officials said.

"We're trying to do what we can, said Mr. Toben, who is Portola Valley's liaison to the Airport/Community Roundtable. "We're working to achieve continued improvement in the compliance with the 8,000-foot standard."

The roundtable -- whose 23 members include officials from several San Mateo County communities -- meets monthly to discuss aircraft noise. At the February 2 meeting, the group discussed Mr. Toben's letter, which was addressed to fellow liaisons in Atherton, Menlo Park, Woodside and Redwood City.

Mr. Toben cited repeated transgressions of the standard, sometimes as many as 15 per day, including 19 flights between 4:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. during one week. A low-flying aircraft will be louder, but the impact is great because the decibel level doubles for every 1,000 feet of lost elevation, he said.

With some Portola Valley neighborhoods situated at 1,500 feet above sea level and some flights tracked at below 6,000 feet, a passing jet may be less than 4,500 feet above a roof, said Mr. Toben.

He said he's received many complaints, but would not provide contact information. One resident who preferred to remain anonymous said the situation is likely to worsen with increasing air traffic and with the arrival of super-jumbo jets such as the Airbus A380.
Too many jets

Air traffic control is a complicated problem that's been made worse by airline deregulation and saturated air routes, said Marland Townsend, the chair of the roundtable and a former captain of the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Kitty Hawk.

"There are more airplanes through that funnel (over Woodside) than can be handled," said Mr. Townsend. "This is the problem. It has to do with scheduling."

The Noise Abatement Office runs a Web site allowing anyone to track the altitudes and speeds of Bay Area air traffic over the previous seven days. The Web site's data is accurate, said Mr. Townsend.

When asked to comment on a jet tracked at 4,900 feet over Portola Valley on the afternoon of Wednesday, February 9, Mr. Townsend said he was not surprised.

"In my opinion, the airplanes that are below 8,000 feet have been cleared to be below 8,000 feet," he said, adding that cockpit alarms go off if a plane strays more than 300 feet away from the altitude assigned by air traffic controllers.

Before deregulation, the Federal Aviation Administration set schedules, he added. Now airlines can schedule flights on their own. Deregulated schedules are great for customers and generally good for airlines, but there is no free lunch, he noted.

"The problem is that the people on the ground don't get as good a deal as they used to," he said. "The benefits far outweigh the concerns of the detractors, in this case. Unfortunately, that's the way it is."
INFORMATION

To track the altitude of Bay Area flights, go to live.airportnetwork.com/sfo.

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