Since this past summer we’ve fielded emails that there seem to be more low-flying planes over Ballard. We spoke with Mike Fergus with the Federal Aviation Administration earlier this year, who tells us that flight paths have not changed permanently, but will be moved temporarily depending on weather.
Ballardite Linda doesn’t buy it. “They actually told my husband that last summer when he called them. They even sent him a printout of the flight paths and told us only one plane flew over on a particular day, which is crap,” she emailed us. “They also told us only in extreme winds/weather would they change flight patterns, which is also a lie as we have sat on our deck on perfectly sunning skies…with the roar of planes constantly flying overhead.”
Other people have emailed us, too, that their concerns have gone unanswered or marked as “registered” by Sea-Tac Airport.
Sea-Tac is currently engaged in a Part 150 Noise Compatibility Study. According to the website, “The Part 150 Study process is designed to identify noise incompatibilities surrounding an airport, and to recommend measures to both correct existing incompatibilities and to prevent future incompatibilities. For Part 150 Study purposes, noise incompatibilities are defined as residences or public use noise-sensitive facilities (libraries, churches, schools, nursing homes, and hospitals) within the 65 Day-Night Average Sound Level (DNL) noise contour.”
“It is good to know that others are seeing this change over Ballard, but we need to do something now before it is set in stone!” Linda says. “What my husband was told last summer was that they do respond, but only if there is a public outcry. We need to act more like a community and band together to get them to stop polluting our neighborhood when there are other options that they can take.”
Just last year, Magnolia fought with the FAA regarding proposed changes to airplane altitude over Magnolia. Earlier this year the FAA decided not to change the altitude for planes.
