Aviation Conspiracy Newsletter #453..........................................................................November 4 , 2007 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). If you want to get the newsletter sent to you every week, sign up to AviationWatch. Bill Mulcahy rockaway@prodigy.net
Quote of the Week: "The
FAA is totally oblivious to quality-of-life issues, and we as a community are
going to have to figure out what we want," U.S. Rep.
Christopher Shays, R-Bridgeport, Connecticut commenting on the FAA's Airspace
Redesign scheme at recent community rally.
State Of Connecticut Sues FAA Over Airspace Redesign Scheme!!!
As
Bill Sees It (Editorial): Noise
Pollution On The Rise!!! That was the title of a very short news
piece this week on noise pollution at Reagan Airport. However, there was a
video in the story that was great. It had a Dr. Jeffery Kim of Georgetown
University Hospital talking about the health effects of noise pollution. GAO
Airport Noise Report More
Government Smoke And Mirrors!!! This Reagan Airport's news video's focus
on the effect of noise pollution on people's health was in stark contrast to the
General Accounting Office (GAO) report that dealt with airport noise effects on
the "environment" and (whatever THAT means) and "community
concerns" rather than health impacts. Maybe that was because the GAO report
was written by someone called a "Director of Physical Infrastructure
Issues" instead of an expert in the health effects of noise.
Finally The State Of Connecticut Gets Involved With Opposing FAA Airspace Redesign
Plan!!! It looks as if the FAA's unjust, politically influenced and
racist airspace redesign plan is starting to get some real heat when the state
of Connecticut, not just a group of towns, joined in the lawsuit this week. This
is a good beginning. Now what has to happen is more states start lawsuits and
eventually join form a coalition to bring one massive lawsuit against the FAA 
scheme.
This lawsuit will be fought against by politicians like New York's Senator
Schumer who have already gotten their favored (wealthy and white)
communities
protection from overflight noise continued. The JFK Airport routing
over nearby communities was not touched with the FAA opting to send
future increased flights over the same poor and minority communities they have
concentrated them on for so many years. Connecticut's Senator Lieberman
is also strangely
silent about the increased noise impacts on his state. Cleverly making deals
with slimy politicians like Schumer and Lieberman is how the FAA has been
getting away
with increasing noise pollution over American's homes for so long. People in
communities which are going to get increased noise under this plan should
remember next election the politicians who have sold
them out. New
York's "Privatized" Stewart Airport Taken Over By A Public
"Authority!!! News stories this week talked about how the bi-state,
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has taken over ownership of Stewart
Airport which had the distinction of being 
the
first U.S. airport to be "privatized." Local
politicians (see picture of democrat Reps. Hinchey and
Hall) and the news media are positively gushing over the prospect of more
noisy planes and air pollution over this area which is already classified by the
EPA as a highly air polluted "non-attainment" area. What they
don't tell their constituents and readers is that the secret plan is for the
airport to be developed as a heavily night operating air cargo hub and not the
"regional" airport for local counties as the Port Authority has conned
the locals into thinking. This is why communities around nearby Teterboro
Airport stopped the Port Authority plan to build the air cargo in their
area.
General
Accounting Office (GAO) Report
Comments On Airspace Redesign Scheme!!! (excerpt from the
report) "Because the airspace redesign for the New York/New
Jersey/Philadelphia area will make changes to arrival and departure routes, the
noise contours in the area will also change, exposing some communities to less
noise 
and others to more. According to FAA’s analysis of the effect of the
redesign, fewer people would be exposed to moderate to significant noise levels
than is currently the case, but some people who live under the new flight paths
would be exposed to higher though moderate levels of noise. On the basis of
this analysis, the environmental impact statement prepared for the redesign
project concludes that the project will not have a significant environmental
impact with respect to noise. However, the possible shift in noise contours
has led to significant expressions of concern, including litigation in many of
the communities that could experience higher though moderate levels of aviation
noise. One of these communities, which has a large minority population,
contends that the redesign would disproportionately affect minority
neighborhoods. This contention could raise concerns about environmental
justice. We are currently reviewing the New York/New
Jersey/Philadelphia airspace redesign at the request of this Subcommittee."
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08216t.pdf
Editor's Note: More governmental smoke and mirrors. However, there seems to
be a few independent nuggets of fact.
State
Of Connecticut Sues The FAA!!! NEW CANAAN - Opponents of the plan
to move air traffic over Fairfield County spoke yesterday about alternatives,
like directing the planes over Long Island Sound and promoting train travel.
State representatives from Fairfield County and U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays,
R-Bridgeport, spoke against the Federal Aviation Administration at a rally held
by the New Canaan Environmental Group in the Outback Teen Center behind Town
Hall. Speakers accused the FAA of neglecting the environment and area residents.
"The FAA is totally oblivious to quality-of-life issues, and we as a
community are going to have to figure out what we want," Shays said.
State Rep. Antonietta "Toni" Boucher, R-Wilton, called for an increase
of mass transit and promoted rail travel, which would decrease dependency on air
travel for longer trips, she said. "The skies have started to emulate
what has happened to the roads, especially in Connecticut," she said.
The rally came two days after Gov. M. Jodi Rell and state Attorney General
Richard Blumenthal announced that Connecticut has filed suit against the FAA,
the first state to do so. Eleven towns also have filed suit.
Stewart Airport, NY: Putting Lipstick On A
Pig!!! Stewart Airport – The Stewart Stone, a granite marker that was
set at Stewart back in the 1930s when it was dedicated as an Army Air Corps
base, is back at the airport. The stone that resembles a grave marker, turned up
in Winter Park, Florida. And through some detective work, Thomas Hafer, grandson
of airport benefactor Thomas “Archie” Stewart, was able to acquire it, clean
it up at his Virginia home, and bring it back to Newburgh on Thursday, the day
the Port Authority, took over operations. “This is the culmination of
everything that this family has ever wanted and I just hope that this is the
transition point that’s going to bring this airport to its full realization
and that it is going to be an engine for growth for the whole region,” he
said. Editor's Note: It is sad to see the rush to destroy the quality of
life of the once quiet rural area presented by the local media and politicians
as the greatest thing since sliced bread. Reading this crap its hard to believe
this is the same air cargo hub expansion that the communities around nearby
Teterboro Airport fought so hard to stop being inflicted on them.
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Important Aviation News Stories This Week
NOISE ABOVE DELAYS BELOW: Why LI (Long Island, New York) may get a break on jet noise http://www.newsday.com/news/local/transportation/ny-lilfy045446234nov04,0,4990099.story
In the largest reshuffling of flight patterns in the nation's
history - one expected to affect communities from Philadelphia to Hartford -
Long Island appears to luck out.
The "airspace redesign," as the Federal Aviation Administration calls
it, is intended to ease chronic flight delays, which have doubled in the last
three years alone at New York City's three major metropolitan airports.
And the sweeping changes in flight patterns are stoking apprehension of more
airplane noise in communities north, west and south of the city and the Island.
Rckland County, for example, officials have hired a nationally renowned airplane
noise expert and a lawyer to fight their case. In Elizabeth, N.J., they've filed
a similar legal challenge contesting the changes.
On Long Island, some parts of the Town of North Hempstead will have noticeable
noise increases, based on FAA data. Yet, the increase will be minimal compared
with areas such as Elizabeth, where local activist Robert Belzer estimates
85,000 residents who live near Newark Airport will be subject to significantly
higher noise levels.
The FAA declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation.
Unaware on Long Island
Officials on Long Island, are relatively unaware of the planned changes or their
impact.
"The issue has recently come to our attention," said Justin Meyers, a
spokesman for the Town of North Hempstead. "We are currently reaching out
to our federal representatives to explore this matter further."
The airspace redesign, which the FAA approved in September, is regional in
nature and is engineered to make better use of the skies, fanning out planes as
they depart and putting others at higher or lower altitudes.
"To some extent, flights will be redistributed," acting FAA
Administrator Robert Sturgell said at a recent news conference. "Different
folks will hear airplanes."
Kennedy, LaGuardia, Newark and Philadelphia are the major airports affected by
the airspace redesign. Lesser changes are in store for Long Island MacArthur
Airport in Islip, Republic Airport in Farmingdale and Gabreski Airport in
Westhampton Beach. Regionwide, Sturgell said, changes on the ground will amount
to a net noise reduction, with some 600,000 of 29 million residents in five
states hearing less airplane noise. He was unable to say how many more people
will have additional noise but promised any impact will be minimal.
Officials say the redesign will begin in the next few months and be complete in
the next four years. FAA spokesman Jim Peters said communities close to Kennedy
won't see much difference. "The major routes that we use to bring aircraft
in and out of Kennedy to do not change close in," he said.
Instead, routes farther away from the airport will shift.
Meanwhile, the area around Centerport and Eatons Neck, which experiences minimal
noise from commercial flights, soon could have even less.
In all, Peters didn't predict any substantial impact here.
Although noise affects people differently experts say any increase will be
noticeable, particularly for communities already teetering on the border of what
the FAA considers higher noise levels. The FAA measures noise over a 24-hour
period, taking an average of all the sounds emitted by planes during that time.
Greater weight is given to aircraft noise at night, said Sanford Fidell, a
California-based noise researcher who has been hired by Rockland County.
Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef said he believes the federal
agency did "not adequately address the potential noise impact to Rockland
residents and offers no provision for noise mitigation." The county filed
its lawsuit, he said, because the FAA's review was "flawed" and
"may be in violation of federal aviation laws and regulations."
The measurement the FAA uses is called a Day Night Average Noise Level (DNL).
The FAA assigns each community a score: Any score over 65 is considered too high
for residential areas; any score over 45 is considered a slight to moderate
noise impact.
According to an FAA report last year, 45 DNL is the minimum level at which noise
needed to be considered, because "even distant ambient noise sources and
natural sounds such as wind in trees can easily exceed this value."
No Long Island community has a DNL above 65 and none is
expected to go above that level when the airspace redesign takes effect,
according to an analysis of FAA data. Most communities on the Island have DNL
levels below 45.
Fidell is critical of how the federal agency uses DNLs.
"As a predictor of noise impact, it's not terribly accurate," he said.
A home that experiences one very loud plane each afternoon,
for example, could be rated at the same noise level as another home with 100
barely audible planes passing over each day.
Noise also is very subjective, he said, and what bothers one person or community
might not bother another.
"If you're living next to a train, it's hard to notice airplanes,"
Fidell said.
No more noise needed
In Manhasset, one of the North Hempstead communities likely to have a noticeable
noise increase, resident Robert Symmons said the nearby train tracks and
helicopters ferrying travelers to the Hamptons create far more headaches for him
these days than do airplanes.
"It would certainly compound the situation," he said.
But by how much is unknown, especially if Symmons' helicopter headaches persist.
According to FAA data, his neighborhood soon will receive the same noise levels
as others in Levittown and East Meadow, which remain virtually unchanged in the
plan.
"You learn to drown it out," said Jerry Sampson, who has lived in his
Levittown home 34 years. While passing planes can be loud enough to interrupt a
backyard conversation, Sampson said he barely notices the noise inside the
house.
Pam Pannaciulli of East Meadow said she's become so used to planes over her
neighborhood that she stopped paying attention to them years ago, until her
1-year-old daughter would wake up from naps, crying and complaining about the
loud noise.
"I didn't notice until I had a baby," she said.
"The issue is how suddenly it occurs, over a period of years versus very
suddenly," Fidell said. "If the change were abrupt, that change would
probably be noticeable."
Belzer said the FAA is misstating the potential impact.
"I think you're going to have surprised people out on Long Island when they
start this," he said.
Staff writer Tom McGinty contributed to this article.
Redirecting traffic
On the whole, changes in air travel patterns are to affect Long island less than
other parts of the metropolitan area. Data below represent current Day Night
Average Noise Levels and 2011 FAA projections. Curren tnoise levels reflect
community-wide composites; levels may vary within communities.
MANHASSET
Current: 43.11
Projected: 45.83
Percentage change: 6.3%
EATONS NECK
Current: 38.01
Projected: 34.12
Percentage change: -10.2%
RONKONKOMA
Current: 43.71
Projected: 44.55
Percentage change: 1.9%
SHELTER ISLAND
Current: 30.25
Projected: 32.74
Percentage change: 8.2%
INWOOD
Current: 62.09
Projected: 63.04
Percentage change: 1.5%
CEDARHURST
Current: 63.34
Projected: 63.40
Percentage change: 0.1%
EAST MEADOW
Current: 46.11
Projected: 45.67
Percentage change: -0.9%
PATCHOGUE
Current: 40.98
Projected: 40.66
Percentage change: -0.8%
HAMPTON BAYS
Current: 33.10
Projected: 33.47
Percentage change: 1.1%
KEY
Current Day Night Average Nocies Levels (map not in text database)
purple 0
green 0.1 to 35.4
blue 35.5 to 41.6
orange 41.7 to 50.0
red 50.1 to 65.0-
black 65.1 to 73.0
THIS MAP, based on Federal Aviation Administration data, shows changes in
airplane noise levels as projected under the FAA's airspace redesign. The FAA
measures noise over 24-hour periods, taking an average of all sounds emitted by
planes during that time. The measurement is called a Day Night Average Noise
Level (DNL). Easch community is assigned a score. Scores higher than 45 DNL are
considered slight to moderate noise impact. Scores higher than 65 DNL are
considered too high for residential areas.