TagNoise(262)

Aviation Noise and Emissions Symposium (ANES) Aviation Working Group (AWG) presentation on seven specific community requests to airlines to mitigate departure noise at John Wayne Airport (SNA/Orange County). Covers NADP-1 steep departure procedures (1.2 dB reduction), STAYY4 two-turn procedure approved by FAA, 1200-foot throttle cutback, further power reduction at 1200 feet altitude initiated April 2024

A Des Moines resident submitted a formal comment arguing that the Seattle-Area Metroplex Environmental Impact Statement (SAMP EIS) significantly underestimates the health risks of aviation noise by omitting key peer-reviewed studies linking aircraft noise to cardiovascular disease, heart structural changes, and sleep disruption. The commenter contends that the EIS relies on outdated and methodologically flawed research, particularly FICAN studies using extrapolated rather than measured data, while ignoring more recent findings from the WHO, the HYENA Project, and a 2025 cardiac MRI study. The comment calls on the FAA to conduct a proper cumulative health effects analysis and require additional noise mitigation measures beyond the current DNL 65 dB contour threshold.

A Des Moines resident's formal comment argues that the Seattle-Area Metroplex Environmental Impact Statement's noise analysis is legally inadequate because it relies solely on a federal FAA noise threshold rather than Washington State's own multi-factor significance standard. The comment contends that the standard noise metric used (DNL) masks the real impact of roughly 96 additional daily flights projected by 2037, since it averages out individual disturbance events rather than counting them. The commenter calls for supplemental analysis using alternative metrics—such as single-event sound levels and nighttime averages—supported by peer-reviewed health studies linking aircraft noise to sleep disruption and cardiovascular harm.

Des Moines resident Jeffrey Bogen submitted a formal comment arguing that the Seattle-Area Metroplex Environmental Impact Statement's noise analysis is legally inadequate because it relies solely on a federal average-noise metric (DNL) rather than Washington State's broader, multi-factor significance standard. Bogen contends that with roughly 96 additional flights per day projected by 2037, residents will experience more frequent individual noise disruptions — including sleep disturbance and cardiovascular stress — that the DNL metric is mathematically incapable of detecting. He calls on the Port of Seattle to supplement its Final EIS with event-level and nighttime noise metrics supported by peer-reviewed health research, including the FAA's own National Sleep Study.

MIT CEEPR Working Paper 2026-06 by Florian Allroggen, R. John Hansman, Christopher R. Knittel, Jing Li, Xibo Wan, and Juju Wang estimating the causal effect of aviation noise on housing prices using quasi-experimental variation from FAA rollout of performance-based navigation (PBN) procedures and runway reconfigurations at three major U.S. airports. Using a difference-in-differences hedonic price

This January 2026 presentation from the DCA Community Working Group (CWG) responds to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority's (MWAA) October 2025 'Fly Quiet' document, arguing that MWAA's response focuses on past accomplishments rather than actionable steps to reduce aircraft noise. The CWG contends that MWAA should hire an outside consultant (at roughly $100,000 per year) to analyze airline-specific data such as nighttime flights, fleet mix, and go-arounds, which could lead to concrete noise-reduction recommendations. The document highlights a fundamental disagreement between MWAA, which views its current efforts as sufficient, and the CWG, which believes a dedicated, data-driven Fly Quiet program is both affordable and necessary.