The Federal Aviation Administration has informed Senator Patty Murray’s staff that there will be no changes in the floor of the airspace located over northwest Seattle.
Well over one hundred people showed up at a Community Club meeting last November to express concern about the proposed change that would have lowered the floor from 3000 feet to 2000 feet above sea level. That would have resulted in larger planes flying lower and with more frequency over Magnolia and parts of Queen Anne and Ballard.
The FAA stated that after considering all the public input it re-evaluated its proposal and determined no significant net gains in safety or efficiency that would justify the various negative impacts resulting from lowering the floor of the Class Bravo airspace.
The Magnolia Community Club collected and forwarded 77 pages of petitions to the FAA in opposition to the proposal. King County councilmember Larry Phillips along with Representative Jim McDermott and Senator Patty Murray each wrote to the FAA opposing the change.
According to a media release from the Magnolia Community Club today: Community leaders are extremely pleased, not only with the FAA’s substantive decision, but also with its demonstrated willingness to work with affected communities and respond to their concerns. The successful resolution of this issue is due to the hard work over a long period of time by many volunteers within the community who gave up their free time to attend meetings, collect signatures and contact both the FAA and our elected officials. All involved must be thanked for their efforts and professionalism. There is little doubt that the value of our community input was enhanced by the professional manner by which those involved responded to and interacted with the FAA and our elected officials.
Wait a minute!! I thought the whole “less government” push would have resulted in the FAA saying that planes can do whatever they want!! I mean… sheesh, we don’t want to impede the captains of industry from getting the job done by any means necessary. Where are the R’s when you need them?
“…determined no significant net gains in safety or efficiency that would justify the various negative impacts resulting from lowering the floor of the Class Bravo airspace.”
That’s what I was asking from the beginning…why? The FAA didn’t really say why they wanted the change in the first place.
Did anyone else see that Boeing 787 cruising slow and low over Ballard today about 5 pm? It was magnificent in that there were no clouds and it looked like the plane was making a “glamor flight” (getting pics/video taken) but it was a little unnerving to have such a large plane flying over the neighborhood.