I was recently informed that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is holding meetings with the public in reference to changes in air patterns over South Florida, and they were supposedly taking public input. Unfortunately, I did not find out about our meeting until after the Palm Beach International Airport meeting had passed on April 18. But they are still taking public comments at www.faa.gov/nextgen/nextgen_near_you/community_involvement/florida/community_comments_palmbeach until midnight on May 18.
Although the FAA’s NextGen project is mainly about the higher altitude patterns, now may be our only chance to let them know that with the increasing air traffic, and increase in noise pollution from it, the current “low and slow” (as pilots call it) directly over our homes is unacceptable.
I am about 14 miles from the PBIA runway, and over the past 20-plus years, the nuisance has only gotten worse, much worse. If you pay attention, you will notice that some pilots stay higher, and even the large commercial aircraft are much quieter than when they are throttling up to hold their altitude.
I have watched as these same large aircraft make U-turns over Royal Palm Beach, way before they reach my location in the Groves, to align with the main lineup point somewhere east of the turnpike for final landing. Often in the evening, they will stack them up coming in from the west and blow us away every few minutes with conversation-stopping noise if your windows are open and/or you are outside enjoying the evening on your patio.
My main point is this, Southern Blvd. is eight lanes, and soon will be pretty much all the way to Arden. On occasion, I have witnessed those same large aircraft track over Southern and then slowly fly a few hundred feet north over RPB’s commercial area to the point of alignment. Why isn’t this the main track for incoming eastbound air traffic? The noise is barely noticeable, if at all, over the traffic noise from Southern, and there aren’t homes in the path east of State Road 7.
If you are sick of this inconsiderate treatment from the current FAA lower altitude patterns, let your voice be heard.
Robert Austin, Loxahatchee Groves
