First Quarter, 1990: Sea-Tac Noise Hotline Calls per Month and Complaint Analysis

This report summarizes Sea-Tac Airport noise hotline complaint calls for the First Quarter of 1990, tracking call volumes from 1986 through early 1990 and noting a significant spike during the 1987 'Scatter Test.' The majority of complaints (57.2%) concerned northbound departures, while callers most commonly described aircraft as 'too loud' (57.5%) or 'too frequent' (22.2%). A zip-code breakdown shows complaints originated from communities across the greater Seattle-Tacoma region, with areas such as E. Queen Anne Hill and North Renton/Maple Wood among the higher-volume sources.

Notes

Sea-Tac Airport noise complaint data report for First Quarter 1990, including a line graph of hotline calls per month from 1986–1990 (in thousands), noting the 1987 ‘Scatter Test’ spike to approximately 3,400 calls in July 1987. Pie charts show percentage of complaints by operation type: Departures to North (57.2%), Arrivals from North (28.6%), Departures to South (10.0%), Ground Noise (1.5%), Unusual A/C Event (1.5%), Arrivals from South (1.0%), Combination (0.2%). Comments received on Sea-Tac hotline categorized as: ‘Too Loud’ (57.5%), ‘Too Frequent’ (22.2%), ‘Low Flying’ (16.5%), ‘Off Track’ (2.8%), ‘Vibration’ (0.8%), ‘Other’ (0.2%). Zip code summary table lists noise complaint call totals by area including Seattle, Burien, Renton, Auburn, Kirkland, Redmond, Tukwila, and other King County communities. Total calls: 2,669 total, 1,664 individual.

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