WinnCad Elements Blog: Complaints of jet noise heard by city

The rising volume of resident complaints about the noise of military jets at Palm Springs International Airport is prompting city action.

City Manager David Ready said he will suggest to the City Council this month that a new subcommittee of himself, airport executive director Tom Nolan and one or two council members reach out to the commanders of military installations where the flights originate.

“It may be time to again revisit some of the military installations and open a dialogue on some of the concerns our citizens are expressing,” Ready said.

Airport officials have said they don't have any control over the choice of military pilots to land in Palm Springs.

But communities where airport noise issues are more common have asked the military to limit flights at certain times or to reduce the flights altogether.

“We don't have jurisdiction or any control,” Ready said. “It's more of an open dialogue — can we work together? We have every belief they would work with us and modify their protocols.”

The number of military jet takeoffs and landings at the airport has edged up only slightly in recent years, from 1.7 percent of all airport operations in 2008 to 2.2 percent last year, according to airport statistics.

But the number of noise complaints for the first five months of this year nearly doubled, from 32 to 60. And there was a spike on May 29 when several military aircraft flew into the airport.

That set off a debate on the editorial page of The Desert Sun, with weeks of back-and-forth letters as well as comments on mydesert.com website forums.

John England lives within a few miles of the airport's flight path and said that while military jets generally make more noise than commercial air traffic, that's not what causes complaints.

“Every now and then the military pilots reverse their engines or do something that causes an earsplitting noise,” he said.

Richard C. Grosser of Palm Desert said the temporary inconvenience of military jet noise is worth tolerating.
“The noise was here before you were,” he said of complainants. “If you don't like it, you shouldn't have moved here. It is a small price to pay for our freedom.”

Ready said the subcommittee would likely visit the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms and March Air Reserve Base near Moreno Valley.

But Air Force Reserve Maj. Donald Traud, public affairs director for the March air base, said the fighter jets that are apparently triggering the noise complaints aren't coming from them.

The base lands C-17s, a large military transport airplane, at the Palm Springs airport about six times a year, to drop off wounded Marines and troops at Twentynine Palms and the Army's Fort Irwin near Barstow, Traud said.

“These troops are just returning from either Afghanistan or Iraq,” he said.

Lt. Aaron Kakiel, spokesman for U.S. Naval Air Forces at North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego, a command center that oversees all naval aviation activities west of the Mississippi River, earlier told The Desert Sun that many of its flights into Palm Springs airport are part of cross-country flight training for pilots coming from states such as Texas and perhaps even farther east.

“We try and minimize the amount of time we're doing that outside of our normal training areas,” he said.

“We understand it does cause some inconvenience to local residents, but appreciate their patience while these pilots and air crew conduct vital training that is part of their mission to defend the United States.”

Palm Springs may be receiving a disproportionate amount of military jet activity for the same reason tourists come there — it's a nice place to visit, Kakiel said.

Kakiel indicated last month that the Naval Air Command hasn't fielded any complaints from Palm Springs. City officials could direct concerns to the Naval air command for the southwestern U.S., which could in turn direct other Naval flight centers to limit their traffic into Palm Springs, he said.

Ready said Nolan will develop a plan to talk to military officials about jet flights coming in from farther away than nearby military bases.

“The noise was here before you were,” he said of complainants. “If you don't like it, you shouldn't have moved here. It is a small price to pay for our freedom.”

Ready said the subcommittee would likely visit the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms and March Air Reserve Base near Moreno Valley.

But Air Force Reserve Maj. Donald Traud, public affairs director for the March air base, said the fighter jets that are apparently triggering the noise complaints aren't coming from them.

The base lands C-17s, a large military transport airplane, at the Palm Springs airport about six times a year, to drop off wounded Marines and troops at Twentynine Palms and the Army's Fort Irwin near Barstow, Traud said.

“These troops are just returning from either Afghanistan or Iraq,” he said.

Lt. Aaron Kakiel, spokesman for U.S. Naval Air Forces at North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego, a command center that oversees all naval aviation activities west of the Mississippi River, earlier told The Desert Sun that many of its flights into Palm Springs airport are part of cross-country flight training for pilots coming from states such as Texas and perhaps even farther east.

“We try and minimize the amount of time we're doing that outside of our normal training areas,” he said.

“We understand it does cause some inconvenience to local residents, but appreciate their patience while these pilots and air crew conduct vital training that is part of their mission to defend the United States.”

Palm Springs may be receiving a disproportionate amount of military jet activity for the same reason tourists come there — it's a nice place to visit, Kakiel said.

Kakiel indicated last month that the Naval Air Command hasn't fielded any complaints from Palm Springs. City officials could direct concerns to the Naval air command for the southwestern U.S., which could in turn direct other Naval flight centers to limit their traffic into Palm Springs, he said.

Ready said Nolan will develop a plan to talk to military officials about jet flights coming in from farther away than nearby military bases.