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FAA Responses to Federal Way Community Noise Concerns

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This February 2016 document contains FAA responses to noise complaints from Federal Way residents affected by Sea-Tac Airport flight operations. The FAA explains why departures are concentrated to the south 65% of the time due to wind and runway configuration, why flight paths cannot simply be rerouted or 'fanned out' to spread noise across neighborhoods, and why aircraft may appear lower than in the past despite following all published procedures. Any proposed changes to flight routes or procedures must be submitted through the FAA Instrument Flight Procedure (IFP) Gateway for safety, feasibility, and environmental review.

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Notes

FAA responses to noise concerns raised by the Federal Way community at a November 19, 2015 meeting and a December 16, 2015 telecon with Brian Wilson and the Port of Seattle. Topics include: departure route fanning and turn-point rotation proposals (rejected as safety hazards requiring FAA IFP Gateway submission), Optimized Profile Descent (OPD) procedures including HAWKZ and MARNR Greener Skies arrivals at Sea-Tac Airport, south flow operations used 65% of the time due to wind and runway configuration, the 1990 4-Corner Post Record of Decision (RoD) and its noise abatement provisions for north flow only, Performance Based Navigation (PBN) concentration of flight tracks, aircraft altitude data comparing July and November 2014/2015 showing 3% lower departures over Federal Way, and the FAA Instrument Flight Procedure (IFP) Gateway process for proposed procedural changes. Seattle Air Traffic noise abatement compliance rate cited as greater than 98%.

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