Aviation Conspiracy: Connecticut To Get "Creamed" By Airspace Redesign Change?

The graphic (website) version of this newsletter can be accessed at:
http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/newsletter388.htm

Quote of the Week: "You're going to get creamed by it" Robert Belzer, The
New Jersey Coalition Against Aircraft Noise on how the new Airspace
Redesign Plan will affect Fairfield, Connecticut

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Aviation Conspiracy Newsletter
#388.............................................. ....................................August
6, 2006 Past newsletters can be accessed at:
http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/ACNewsmenu.htm The PASSUR airport flight
tracking system at many major U.S. airports http://www.passur.com/sites.htm
(you must have Java installed to view it) Bill Mulcahy

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Connecticut To Get "Creamed" By Airspace Redesign Change?

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Aviation Conspiracy Newsletter Mailing List: I've received a few emails from
people who have asked to be put on the Aviation Conspiracy Mailing List.
Unfortunately I've found it too much trouble to keep it up especially when
companies (get rid of AOL if you use them) like AOL disallow bulk mailing to
their subscribers. So if you want to see the newsletter you should save the
index site in your "favorites" or sign up to the AviationWatch web site.

As Bill Sees It: (Editorial) Communities Starting To Realize The Impacts Of
Airspace Redesign Plan!!! Connecticut communities are starting to realize
that the new flight proposed pattern in the FAA Eastern Region's highly
deceptive Airspace Redesign Plan is going to increase their noise assault
from planes using New York City's LaGuardia Airport. Even though the FAA
deliberately minimized and hid the impacts, communities should have been
complaining about this long before the comment period ended a month ago.
Still, it is never too late to stop this plan as politics play a major role
in everything the FAA does. I was surprised to see that there were "1700
groups and individuals" who commented on the draft environmental impact
study (DEIS). I thought that the public wasn't paying attention. I can
hardly wait to get my copy of the "Final" EIS which is supposed to have the
comments published in it and well as response to each objection. I wonder
how the FAA will avoid doing this. I will try to find out the date for the
final EIS release and how the FAA will respond to the massive numbers of
objections to it.

Connecticut Community Upset Over New Airspace Redesign Plan Impacts:
STAMFORD, Conn. --A new flight path for airlines heading to New York could
pass over southwestern Connecticut, setting off a commotion on the ground
almost as noisy as jet engines in the air. Approaching aircraft would begin
their descent over Fairfield County and hew closely to the coastline near
Stamford and Greenwich before crossing over Long Island Sound to land at La
Guardia Airport. The path is one of five being considered by the Federal
Aviation Administration. The New Jersey Coalition Against Aircraft Noise,
which is alerting Fairfield County about the potential shift of the approach
pattern to La Guardia offers a blunt message to the region: "You're going to
get creamed by it," said Robert Belzer, the group's president. A noise level
increase of 1.5 decibels is considered significant enough to be noticed, the
agency said. Belzer said the FAA has downplayed the potential effects, using
newer and quieter aircraft models to calculate noise levels. The FAA also
has not provided information about the altitudes of planes associated with
the proposed flight paths, he said. "There's no question that they're
understating the impacts of this," Belzer said. "I think Fairfield County
needs to look at this." The New Jersey airport-monitoring coalition was one
of about 1,700 groups and individuals to comment on the FAA proposal during
a public comment period.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/con... western_conn/

Chicago: O'Hare Airport Expansion Opponents Lose A Round: The City of
Chicago cleared another legal hurdle Friday in its attempts to demolish a
Bensenville cemetery that stands in the way of the planned O'Hare Airport
expansion project. A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., dismissed a
lawsuit filed by attorneys for two suburban villages and the owners of St.
Johannes Cemetery, which lies in the path of one of four new runways at
O'Hare. St. John's United Church of Christ, along with officials from
Bensenville and Elk Grove Village, contend that the Federal Aviation
Administration should never have approved the airport expansion plan because
razing the cemetery would be a violation of a federal law protecting
religious freedom. Expansion opponents, meanwhile, said they were
disappointed by the D.C. court's ruling, but not discouraged. "This is a
15-round championship fight. We lost round 13 . . . but the fight's not
over," Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson said.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-hare05.html Twenty-Fifth
Anniversary Of Air Traffic Controller Strike: When 13,000 air traffic
controllers failed to report for work 25 years ago today, they were going
for broke in a high-stakes poker game. They thought they had a good hand:
Without their skills, American aviation would be virtually grounded. They
thought they knew their White House opponent: As a candidate the previous
October, Ronald Reagan had pledged his support for their cause. They were
wrong on both counts. The outcome of the strike that began at 7 a.m. on
August 3, 1981, was to haunt organized labor for a generation. The federal
government had assumed responsibility for guiding commercial planes into and
out of the nation's airports back in 1936. The Federal Aviation
Administration, which came to oversee this service, had a reputation for
autocratic management, poor communication, and unwise cost cutting. As air
traffic increased, the duties of the controllers became increasingly
stressful. Often relying on antiquated equipment, they continuously juggled
flights, anticipated trajectories, and reacted to ever-shifting
contingencies, all with the knowledge that a mistake might mean catastrophe.
http://www.americanheritage.com/arti...ns-patco.shtml



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Important Aviation News Stories This Week

Possible airline flight path change concerns southwestern Conn.

August 5, 2006
http://www.boston.com/news/local/con... western_conn/

STAMFORD, Conn. --A new flight path for airlines heading to New York could
pass over southwestern Connecticut, setting off a commotion on the ground
almost as noisy as jet engines in the air.

Approaching aircraft would begin their descent over Fairfield County and hew
closely to the coastline near Stamford and Greenwich before crossing over
Long Island Sound to land at La Guardia Airport. The path is one of five
being considered by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The New Jersey Coalition Against Aircraft Noise, which is alerting Fairfield
County about the potential shift of the approach pattern to La Guardia
offers a blunt message to the region: "You're going to get creamed by it,"
said Robert Belzer, the group's president.

The FAA has said flight path changes may be needed to reduce delays at La
Guardia; John F. Kennedy Airport in New York; Newark Liberty Airport in
Newark, N.J.; and airports in Philadelphia.

Aviation officials say a change would not significantly increase noise over
Fairfield County.

FAA spokeswoman Arlene Murray said the agency will not discuss the effects
of various proposals until it reviews public comments and studies each plan.

Other proposals being considered by the agency, which hopes to choose an
alternative by the end of the year, include a route over the Atlantic Ocean
and leaving flight paths unchanged.

"Each alternative has various impacts in different areas," Murray said. "We
have not chosen an alternative yet."

Greenwich and Stamford are among several communities in the area that have
voiced reservations about the possible changes.

Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy said city officials will "get more heavily
involved" with the issue.

Greenwich has directed a town task force that handles issues related to
nearby Westchester County Airport in New York to review the La Guardia
approach. The town also raised questions about the proposal in a letter to
the FAA.

Projected decibel levels in the area would range from about the mid-30s to
the low 40s, according to the FAA and reported Saturday by The Advocate of
Stamford. Thirty decibels is about equal to a soft whisper from five feet
away, while 50 decibels is comparable to light traffic from 100 feet away,
according to the agency.

A noise level increase of 1.5 decibels is considered significant enough to
be noticed, the agency said.

Belzer said the FAA has downplayed the potential effects, using newer and
quieter aircraft models to calculate noise levels. The FAA also has not
provided information about the altitudes of planes associated with the
proposed flight paths, he said.

"There's no question that they're understating the impacts of this," Belzer
said. "I think Fairfield County needs to look at this."

The New Jersey airport-monitoring coalition was one of about 1,700 groups
and individuals to comment on the FAA proposal during a public comment
period.

Any changes are not expected to take effect until 2011 and must be approved
by Congress.

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