Noise Complaints Prompt Plan to Shift Jet Traffic Away from Seal Beach

Seal Beach may have won the battle to shift airplane traffic away from over residential neighborhoods.

Following complaints about airplane traffic above the Old Town and Hill neighborhoods, city leaders, Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, JetBlue, and FAA and Long Beach Airport officials met this month to find a way to shift the course of planes flying into Long Beach Airport.

The short-term solution is to have a Letter of Agreement signed by the FAA, the Long Beach Tower and the airlines in which all parties agree to fly over the Naval Weapons Station. The long-term solution is to institute a "Charted Visual Approach" which directs the air traffic across the Navy Base rather than Old Town. Seal Beach officials are optimistic that both are steps in the right direction in limiting the noise pollution caused by jet aircraft.

“We were looking to keep jets from coming in low over the pier and residential areas just to save money on fuel,” said Mayor Mike Levitt, who attended the meeting with City Manager Jill Ingram and Councilwoman Ellery Deaton. “We’ve taken correct steps, but until we get a letter from the airlines and the airport, it’s unresolved. We have, however, agreed to agree once we receive something.”

The loud noise caused by jets landing at Long Beach Airport has been an ongoing problem for at least 10 months. Seal Beach residents have used the Long Beach Airport noise complaint number to put pressure on the airlines and the airport.

“Congressman Rohrabacher was very firm that they don’t want planes flying over Old Town when there is a Naval Weapons Station to fly over,” Deaton wrote in her January newsletter to residents.

The FAA, along with the Long Beach Tower and JetBlue, responded by evaluating the Charted Visual Approach. It is a procedure in which aircraft may proceed to the airport via visual landmarks and altitudes depicted on a published visual approach chart.

It “will be for use by participating turbojet arrivals into the airport from the west and northwest. Implementation of this procedure will require coordination with the users that fly turbojet aircraft into the airport. To help ensure the safe and efficient manner in which it will be used, this will require some flight crew and air traffic controller training,” FAA Communications Manager Allen Kenitzer said by email. “We do not feel that either will adversely impact timely implementation of this procedure.”

City Manager Jill Ingram said she’s pleased with the outcome of the meeting.

“Although we don’t have the Letter of Agreement yet - that will take time - we are confident there is an ongoing effort to resolve the problem. Feb. 1 is the target date for training to implement changes,” she said. “The meeting was incredibly interesting but went incredibly well. To get in the same room to express concerns is huge.”

What do you think? Will the proposed changes reduce the jet noise over Seal Beach neighborhoods? Tell us in the comments.