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Recognizing that its hands are largely tied by federal regulations to change flight procedures to reduce plane noise, San Francisco International Airport officials are planning to implement a satellite system to fine tune aircraft landings that could make upstream arrivals potentially quieter.
The Ground-Based Augmentation System (GBAS) would not change current flight patterns established under the Federal Aviation Administration’s NextGen program, SFO officials told the public at an informational meeting in Palo Alto on Tuesday night. The system would not change the noisy SERFR route that has plagued residents, but there is the potential for some relief as the planes are adjusted in altitude and slope to accommodate for the landing.
The GBAS system, which was purchased by the airport and not the FAA, provides corrections and monitoring of global navigation satellite systems within a 23 nautical-mile radius (26.46 miles) of an airport. A very high-frequency radio signal broadcasts the data from a ground-based transmitter. The system yields extremely high accuracy – of less than 1 meter in both the horizontal and vertical directions. It can be installed as a non-federal navigation aid.
Initially, SFO will use the system as an overlay on the existing landings. But the airport is putting together as many as 13 “innovative concepts” approaches, said Paul Hannah, an official with SFO GBAS Airspace and Flight Procedures. After testing the approaches and making adjustments with public input, SFO will submit the approaches to the FAA for approval. Hannah said airport officials will be monitoring flight approaches to assure that the modifications made for the landings don’t cause more noise and pollution problems for residents.
One test adjustment found that planes brought in at a higher angle to land would change the flight altitude above Foster City from 1,800 feet to 1,900-1,950 feet. Another angle change would raise the altitude at Greco Island from 3,000 feet to 3,300-3,400 feet.
GBAS also makes it more feasible for planes to have more flexibility in using the virtual displaced threshold — a section of the runway that planes don’t usually use for takeoffs and landings at a point just before and after the main designated area of runway — which can be used as a noise-mitigation measure for the communities overflown by planes on approach. In the Foster City and Greco Island trials, when using virtual displaced threshold and GBAS, the altitude over Foster City rose to 2,150-2,200 feet and near Greco Island rose to 3,500-3,650 feet, Hannah noted.
Hannah said that to make sure they aren’t doing additional harm by inadvertently causing more noise or pollution, SFO will be conducting “single-event noise analysis,” for the proposed approach refinements: They will measure decibel levels from one aircraft, flying one time, and at various points along the approach path. Officials will take into consideration different noise levels made by different types of aircraft and if the adjustments are causing pilots to use noisier methods, such as speed brakes.
It is unknown what the changes will mean for Peninsula cities. Palo Alto sits underneath three flight paths, and Menlo Park and other nearby cities are also significantly affected by the lower altitude overhead flights. Officials were cautious about assuring there would be any major changes. But there could be some relief.
Higher angles can move planes away from some public areas and closer to the water, Hannah noted, as officials found with their models over Foster City. But because of Palo Alto’s location on the three aircraft approach routes, it is unlikely that many planes will stop vectoring over the city, a process by which the planes loop over an area in a “holding” pattern when landings are backed up, officials said.
But using GBAS could help to make the case to FAA officials to make some adjustments that would bring greater relief, Hannah said, if they can show that the adjustments will have benefits such as improved efficiency or fuel economy.
GBAS is available on many new commercial aircraft. It is standard on Boeing 747-8 and Boeing 787 aircraft. It is also an option on Boeing 737-Next Generation (737-600/-700/-800/-900), Airbus A320, A330/340, A350, and A380 aircraft, according to the FAA. Currently, two U.S. airports have operational approval for public GBAS use: Newark Liberty International Airport and Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Internationally, GBAS is being used in airports in Bremen and Frankfurt, Germany; Sydney, Australia; Malaga, Spain; Zurich, Switzerland and 15 Russian locations.
SFO kicked off the process for the GBAS in February. Officials hope to submit the approaches to the FAA by the end of the year. If approved, the overlay flight adjustments, which are the ones that will fly the identical path that is currently proscribed, could begin by March 2020.
Officials said that they are committed to working together with the public until the airport and the public are satisfied with the changes. The public will have until Oct. 16 to submit comments to SFO by emailing GBAS program manager Daniel Lee at Daniel.Lee@flysfo.com.
Does anyone know what plane was hovering over Lindenwood and Palo Alto for about 3 hours tonight (Wednesday, 10/3/18)? It’s a Cessna C206H Stationair and it just flies in circles over and over and over again around residential neighborhoods usually around dinner time for hours on end. Happens at least a couple of times per month if not more. Way more annoying than SFO traffic or even Surf Air.
This aircraft is operated by a law enforcement agency and its activities are cloaked in secrecy.
Haha that’s odd. How secret could it be? All they do is hover over homes and neighborhoods for hours (it’s been at least 3 hours and counting now – the plane is still there, droning endlessly in circles) at 3,500 feet. I can’t imagine it’s for anything except traffic but a lot of the time they aren’t even flying over the highway. What a nuisance.
They are doing drug surveillance and at 3500 ft they can see a large area and with very high resolution imaging.
Interesting. Peter how do you know these things?!
“Peter how do you know these things?!”
I spent 18 years on the Joint Community Relations Committee for the Palo Alto Airport (including 10 years as the Chair of the JCRC) and I personally investigated every noise complaint that was filed. It took me a long time to sort of what this plane was doing but eventually I was able to piece together the facts.
So I take it that they’ve been doing this for a long time even with the noise complaints? Do you know how frequently they’ll spend an entire evening hovering like tonight? Is there a set schedule or is it random? It feels like every week or two!
This is done randomly as a set schedule would serve the benefit of the drug traffickers whom they are attempting to apprehend.
In my opinion the public benefit of these flights exceeds any annoyance that they create.
The drug plane is at it again tonight, after being up there buzzing and circling for four hours last night. You’d think that Atherton, Menlo Park, and Palo Alto wouldn’t exactly be a drug smuggling hotbed?! I’ve lived in Los Angeles and there weren’t these drug planes incessantly hovering. I don’t get it — it’s a low density residential area where people go to bed early.
MarkS:
if they’re hovering over Atherton and Menlo Park it’s likely they are surveiling a location in East Palo Alto or Belle Haven.
In my opinion the public benefit of these flights exceeds any annoyance that they create.