San Bernardino County Supervisor meets with Federal Aviation Administration in Washington D.C.

San Bernardino County Supervisor Janice Rutherford, whose Second Supervisorial District includes the Crestline, Lake Arrowhead and Running Springs communities, traveled to Washington D.C. during the first week of March to meet with Federal Aviation Administration officials in an effort to discuss the agency’s decision to reroute flights over Lake Arrowhead.

Rutherford reportedly shared with Federal Aviation Administration Metroplex Director and other staff the frustrations and concerns she’s heard from mountain residents who have been adversely affected by commercial aircraft noise since the agency implemented new flight landing paths to several Southern California airports in the spring of 2017. “The Federal Aviation Administration officials we met with were very receptive and offered some good suggestions on how we can continue working with the agency to get residents’ concerns addressed,” she said in a March 13 news release.

Federal Aviation Administration officials, Rutherford said, suggested working with the Community Roundtable at Ontario International Airport. These groups, which are present at many airports around the country, monitor community concerns and attempt to achieve noise mitigation through a cooperative sharing of authority among the aviation industry, Federal Aviation Administration, airports and local governments.

The airport’s roundtable was previously conducted twice a year through Los Angeles World Airports. However, now that OIA is under local control, the airport is in the process of restarting the roundtable group and holding meetings quarterly.

According to Supervisor Rutherford’s communication director, Scott Vanhorne, Federal Aviation Administration officials were asked about noise monitoring to determine exactly how the flight path change has impacted mountain residents. Officials reported that the agency uses computer modeling, not on-the-ground sound monitoring to determine noise levels. Rutherford indicated she plans to talk to Ontario airport officials about the possibility of doing actual sound monitoring to determine the true impact of airplane noise on mountain residents.

Rutherford and Federal Aviation Administration officials, said Van Horne, also discussed technology that allows the public to track airplane routes and elevations. Residents have reported that flight tracking websites show airplanes flying lower over the mountain communities than what has been reported by the Federal Aviation Administration.

In the meantime, the Federal Aviation Administration recently published documents necessary to reroute night flights around Lake Arrowhead. Federal Aviation Administration   Regional Director Dennis Roberts told those attending a January 25 Municipal Advisory Council meeting at Lake Arrowhead Resort that the agency was proposing to shift the UPS cargo plane landing path to ONT 2.1 miles east of Lake Arrowhead between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. This proposed route change would place the landing path above the Cedar Glen and Skyforest communities.

Rutherford’s most recent trip to Washington D.C. fulfills a pledge she made at the January 25th meeting, where she stated, “I’m returning to DC in March, and will continue the fight.”

Original article can be found here ➤ http://alpenhornnews.com