Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Mayor's Office Investigating Noise From Columbus Municipal Airport (KBAK), Indiana

Responding to residents’ complaints of noise due to the increased air traffic at the Columbus Municipal Airport, Mayor Kristen Brown has put a number of procedures in place to both alleviate the problem and give city residents an opportunity to give input on the situation.

“We are responding to this issue as quickly and safely as we can", said Brown. "We have heard from residents in the northwest quadrant of the city and understand their frustration with the increased noise and traffic. I’ve directed Rod Blasdel, Airport Director, to develop noise abatement procedures to deal with the situation and look at alternate flight patterns for planes to use”.

The Mayor's Office says Blasdel has issued new procedures for pilots to use regarding runways and departure procedures. Pilots are directed to utilize runways 5 and 32 during calm conditions, which send planes in a northeast or northwest direction, away from residential areas.

When wind conditions dictate that pilots use runway 23, flying over neighborhoods in the northwest area of Columbus, pilots are asked to use departure guidelines issued by the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA). These guidelines encourage reduced speed and slower climbs, which will result in decreased decibel levels. Air safety is of highest priority for planes at the airport, but Blasdel believes these actions will not compromise safety and will significantly reduce noise levels on the ground.

The increased traffic at the airport is related to an upsurge in demand at NTN Driveshaft, resulting in parts being shipped to various locations throughout the United States.

The Mayor’s office has also established a phone line and website contact form to deal with comments concerning increased noise and traffic at the airport. This will help officials pinpoint the location and times of any future ground noise problems to resolve the issue.

Residents can call the Columbus Municipal Airport Comment Line at (812) 3767-2499 or visit the News section at the top right of the city website Homepage at www.columbus.in.gov to give input.


Columbus Residents Concerned About Air Traffic Near Homes

The airport in Columbus has seen increased traffic, but that means more noise and disturbances for nearby residents.

The Columbus Municipal airport’s business has increased since adding a direct flight to Detroit in November. But residents living near the airport have begun voicing concerns over large cargo plane traffic that tends to come into the area late at night.

John and Jeanette Menter have lived a mile from the Columbus airport for almost ten years. John Menter works out of his home and has always noticed the air traffic, but he says it only became disruptive in the past week.

“And for the most part our familiarity with this airport has been small private planes, and you know and that has never been a problem, but when you got cargo jets every fifteen minutes taking off at a time and at all hours of the night, then you’ve got a problem,” he says.

Airport Director Rod Blasdel says demand for the airports services have increased because local businesses are shipping more products out of the area.

“Primarily what it is is local industry, because they’re ramping up so quickly, that putting trucks on the road does not get the parts to their customers in time so consequently that they have to hire air carriers to transport those parts to countries and in the United States,” he says.

Blasdel says there are not any real restrictions on the airport and just about any type of aircraft can be accommodated.

He says in light of the complaints and because the airport is open 24 hours a day, they have implemented noise abatement procedures. But he says increased traffic is good for the airport and the region’s economy.

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